An official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified Thursday about the process the government might undertake to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia should he be released from custody in Tennessee — but the official said that he himself had no involvement with Abrego Garcia’s case prior to being asked to testify, and little experience handling similar deportation processes himself.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered the government to produce witnesses who had knowledge of the federal government’s plans for Abrego Garcia should he be released on bond from the Tennessee detention center where he is being held on charges of human smuggling.
Under questioning, ICE official Thomas Giles said had been given a 1.5-page “executive summary” of Abrego Garcia’s case and three to four hours of prep sessions with DOJ attorneys prior to taking the stand.
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“Prior to that moment in time, 7:47 a.m. ET on Tuesday of this week, have you had any involvement whatsoever with Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case?” Abrego Garcia’s attorney asked Giles, the assistant director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Los Angeles.
“No,” Giles responded.
“Did it cross your mind to suggest that maybe you should speak to somebody who’s familiar with his case in any shape or form, at DHS or ICE?” the attorney asked.
“It didn’t cross my mind,” Giles said.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.
He was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty.
Government attorneys suggested that among the administration’s options, should Abrego Garcia be released on bond, is to deport him to a third country other than El Salvador, but Abrego Garcia’s legal team argued on Monday that he should be transferred from Tennessee to Maryland to await trial.
Giles, during his testimony, answered numerous questions about ICE’s alien removal process, as well as the appeals process for those who contest their removal — but he offered little in the way of detail regarding what would happen to Abrego Garcia, saying, “We don’t work cases that aren’t in ICE custody preemptively.”
“Officers are focused on the cases in ICE custody. Given our resources, we don’t have the resources to work cases where a decision hasn’t even been made,” Giles said.
Asked whether Abrego Garcia would be removed to a third country or if his removal proceedings would be reopened, Giles answered, “That decision will be made as soon as possible, when they come into ICE custody.”
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Giles said he could not answer which detention center Abrego Garcia could be placed in, or who specifically would make that decision, saying it’s entirely dependent on available “bed space” at any given moment.
While refusing to say whether Abrego Garcia would be deported to a third country, Giles said that Mexico and South Sudan were among a handful of countries where the U.S. has deported noncitizens who have asked not to be returned to their countries of origin out of fear of torture or persecution.
“Since March of 2025, we primarily do third country removals to Mexico,” Giles said, while acknowledging he doesn’t have an extensive experience in third country removals.
But when Judge Xinis followed up asking if it’s fair to assume that Mexico is a likely destination for Abrego Garcia given the circumstances, Giles again said, “the decision won’t be made until the individual comes into custody.”
“Sending somebody to a country that they have no citizenship and no connection to whatsoever is a very, very unusual thing, isn’t it?” Abrego Garcia’s attorney asked, to which Giles responded that the detainee has the right to contest the deportation by claiming fear.
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Asked whether DHS has been given “sufficient assurances” by third countries that deportees would not be tortured or persecuted, Giles said he doesn’t have that knowledge.
Pressed on the details of how someone would contest their deportation to a third country, Giles explained that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts “credible fear” interviews to determine the credibility of those claims, and said he believes the detainee’s attorney can be present during those interviews — but later acknowledged that he doesn’t have detailed knowledge of USCIS operations.
Judge Xinis said the hearing would resume on Friday.
Thursday’s hearing came a day after Justice Department attorneys said in a court filing that they had sought to have the case dismissed by agreeing to not deport Abrego Garcia to El Salvador without first winning court approval and pledging to follow procedures before sending him to a third country — but that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys had rejected those terms.
