NASHVILLE − A federal judge in Nashville has ruled Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be released from jail before trial on criminal charges in Tennessee, a decision his attorneys had argued for since he was brought back to the U.S. in June after his illegal deportation in March.
Abrego Garcia will not be immediately let out of jail due to a pending motion by his attorneys to delay his release.
Meanwhile, a judge in Maryland has ordered Abrego Garcia must be transferred to the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore. If ICE wants to deport Abrego Garcia, it must give him 72 hours notice so he can assert claims of credible fear or seek any other relief, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, in Maryland, wrote.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw issued the Tennessee ruling, which came down July 23.
“The Government has failed to show on appeal that this case is one of the ‘carefully limited exception[s]’ where detention pending trial is justified, entitling Abrego to his liberty in the meantime,” Crenshaw wrote.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in Tennessee had recently asked that any order to release him from jail be delayed for 30 days. While they had argued Abego Garcia has a right to be let out of jail, they said government officials planned to apprehend Abrego Garcia and begin deportation proceedings if he was released.
Crenshaw opted to leave that decision for Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, who will take over the case and rule on the request for a 30-day delayed release from jail in the future.
After the two rulings, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said the cases marked a turning point in the months-long legal battle. The federal judges affirmed constitutional protections and judicial oversight remain critical, even with regard to immigration enforcement, lawyers said.
“These rulings are a powerful rebuke of the government’s lawless conduct and a critical safeguard for Kilmar’s due process rights,” Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a lawyer for Abrego Garcia, said in a statement.
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. without authorization around 2011. Immigration authorities issued a final order of removal for Abrego Garcia in 2019, but they said he could not be released to his home country of El Salvador due to credible fears of persecution by gangs in that country.
The U.S. deported him to a Salvadoran mega prison in March, prompting a unanimous rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court to bring him back. He was brought back June 6 to face charges of alien smuggling, centering around a 2022 traffic stop in Cookeville, Tennessee. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, visited Abrego Garcia while he was held in Salvadoran custody. In a statement after Xinis’ ruling in Maryland, Van Hollen said every person deserves the right to due process afforded by the Constitution.
“While I have no doubt the Administration will continue working to undermine the rights of Mr. Abrego Garcia, we will continue fighting to see them upheld in a court of law,” he said, “because threatening the rights of anyone in this nation poses a threat to the rights of all.”
Contributing: Ruben Montoya, Eduardo Cuevas.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Abrego Garcia to be released from jail, put under ICE supervision
