Washington — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported back to his home country and then returned to the U.S. for federal prosecution, may remain in federal custody, after his lawyers and prosecutors sparred over whether he would be deported immediately upon his release while awaiting a criminal trial.
His lawyers asked that a magistrate judge’s order granting him pretrial release not be issued until July 16, when he is scheduled to appear in court again for another hearing. In a filing Friday, prosecutors agreed to the delay. The court must still approve the request.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said in a filing with the court that the Justice Department has been giving conflicting statements as to whether the Trump administration will move to deport him before he stands trial.
They said that “because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue by the DOJ, we respectfully request to delay the issuance of the release order until the July 16 hearing on the government’s motion for revocation.”
“A short delay will prevent the government from removing Mr. Abrego and allow time for the government to provide reliable information concerning its intentions,” the lawyers wrote.
Abrego Garcia is to be tried on human smuggling charges, but the Trump administration had said that if he were to be released pending trial, he would swiftly be taken into custody by immigration authorities and deported.
Justice Department prosecutors signaled Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would detain and move to deport Abrego Garcia to a third-country — one that is not his country of origin, El Salvador — if he were to be released from criminal custody, as was expected. But a Justice Department spokesperson then suggested Abrego Garcia would not be deported until after his criminal trial concludes.
In announcing that Abrego Garcia had been indicted earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi said if he is convicted on the smuggling charges, Abrego Garcia would be returned to El Salvador after completing his sentence.
Abrego Garcia was charged with two counts arising out of what federal prosecutors said was his participation in a yearslong conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the U.S. unlawfully. He pleaded not guilty to both charges at a hearing earlier this month.
Abrego Garcia was ordered released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes after she denied a Justice Department request to keep him detained while awaiting a criminal trial. The Justice Department appealed Holmes’ order, but a federal district judge on Wednesday declined to pause her decision. Holmes said earlier this week that Abrego Garcia would remain in U.S. Marshal custody until at least Friday while his lawyers and prosecutors submitted additional filings on his conditions for release.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw set a hearing for July 16 to consider the government’s bid to revoke the magistrate judge’s release order.
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