A federal judge in Tennessee has ruled that a Salvadoran migrant at the heart of the debate over President Donald Trump’s border security policies must be released from jail while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes ruled in Nashville on June 22 that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, cannot remain in detention, denying the federal government’s request. The judge set a June 25 hearing in Nashville to determine the conditions of Abrego Garcia’s release.
In a 51-page ruling, Holmes said the federal government “failed to meet its burden of showing a properly supported basis for detention on grounds that (Abrego Garcia) poses an irremediable danger to the community or is likely not to appear.”
“Rather, the Court finds that it can impose conditions of release to reasonably assure the safety of others and the community and (his) appearance,” she wrote. “Ultimately, conditions of release are not intended to guarantee community safety or ensure a defendant’s appearance, but rather serve to reasonably mitigate the risk of dangerousness and likelihood of nonappearance.”
Still, even upon release, Abrego Garcia will likely end up in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and be “subject to anticipated removal proceedings that are outside the jurisdiction of this Court,” the judge noted.
“That suggests the Court’s determination of the detention issues is little more than an academic exercise,” she wrote. “That suggestion is understandable. But the foundation of the administration of our criminal law dependson the bedrock of due process.
“That due process demands that every person charged with a federal crime be afforded a presumption of innocence unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and that deprivation of an individual’s liberty prior to trial can occur only in carefully limited circumstances with all the procedural safeguards afforded by the Bail Reform Act.”
In a court filing late in the afternoon on June 22, federal prosecutors asked Holmes to issue a stay on her release order, noting Abrego Garcia could face deportation “in the near future.”
Abrego Garcia was thrust into the national spotlight when the Trump administration mistakenly deported him to El Salvador in March in violation of a court order.
Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal worker and father of three who had lived in Maryland for a decade before he was deported, has pleaded not guilty to charges he transported undocumented immigrants for financial gain.
Prosecutors had argued that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent gang MS-13 and could flee or intimidate other witnesses if he is released while awaiting trial. Abrego Garcia denies he is a member of the gang and had contended that the charges don’t justify holding him in jail.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation in March turned him into a key player in the debate over Trump’s hardline immigration policy.
Government lawyers acknowledged in court records that he had been erroneously deported – an “administrative error” was the official explanation – even though an immigration judge’s court order had barred his deportation back to native land.
A federal judge in Maryland ordered the administration to facilitate his return. The Supreme Court upheld that ruling, but officials resisted bringing him back until he was indicted in May.
The human smuggling charges are tied to a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022. Police say Abrego Garcia was driving a Chevrolet Suburban with nine other passengers when he was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 40 about 80 miles east of Nashville. Police questioned Abrego Garcia and his passengers but let them go without filing any charges.
A federal grand jury in Nashville indicted Abrego Garcia on the human smuggling charges on May 21 while he was still being held in a prison in El Salvador. The indictment alleges that, from 2016 through 2025, Abrego Garcia and other unnamed people conspired to bring undocumented migrants into the United States from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and elsewhere, passing through Mexico before crossing into Texas.
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? The answer is found on the streets where he lived and worked
Prosecutors say Abrego Garcia’s role in the conspiracy was typically transporting people once they were within the United States, typically picking them up in the Houston area.
If convicted, Abrego Garcia could face up to 10 years in prison for each person transported. Prosecutors allege he made more than 100 trips.
Following his indictment, the Trump administration flew Abrego Garcia back to the United States to face the charges even though it had insisted for weeks that it had no authority to bring him back.
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This story was updated to add new information from the judge’s ruling.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kilmar Abrego Garcia case: Judge denies detention request
