(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) A Maryland judge ruled Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot immediately take Kilmar Abrego Garcia into custody if he is released from jail in Tennessee.
Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March. An administrative order has been questioned. A federal court ruled that Garcia should be returned to the United States and the U.S. Supreme Court partially upheld that order.
He was returned in June to face human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Garcia was driving a vehicle with eight passengers. A police officer said in a video that Garcia was “hauling these people for money.”
U.S. District Court Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. said in a ruling issued Wednesday that the government failed to show why Garcia should be jailed until his trial on the charges and that Garcia should not be detained until trial. The judge said there was no evidence Garcia had recent issues with his wife, identified as Ms. Vasquez in the ruling, or problems with drugs and alcohol.
“As discussed, there is evidence in the record that Abrego has had some limited run-ins with the law previously, his arrest in 2019 and the protective orders Ms. Vasquez issued against him,” Crenshaw said in his ruling. “However, this short criminal history indicates that all issues were resolved without interference by Abrego.”
Crenshaw also dismissed claims that Abrego had a gang affiliation. The government presented witnesses in a recent hearing that tied Garcia to MS-13.
“Of the three witnesses (the agent) testified about that discussed Abrego’s purported affiliation with MS-13, the closest any of them come to stating that Abrego is a member of MS-13 is two witnesses stating he was “familial” with gang members and a third witness stating she “believed” him to be a member,” Crenshaw said. “Entirely absent from the record, however, are any indications that such ‘belief’ is rooted in fact or that such ‘familial’ nature came from his actual membership in or support of MS-13 rather than the simple fact that he, like many members of MS-13, is El Salvadorian.”
Shortly after Crenshaw’s ruling, Maryland U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said in a court filing that ICE cannot take Garcia into custody without 72 hours’ notice. His ICE supervision would be restored to the Baltimore ICE field office, she said.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Garcia a “horrible human being” and a “monster” in a news conference held Friday in Nashville. Garcia’s attorneys asked Crenshaw to prevent Noem from making future statements.
“These comments – made by a sitting Cabinet secretary (and one of the Nation’s highest ranking law enforcement officials) in this District, mere miles from the courthouse where Mr. Abrego’s case is pending – are precisely of the type that are most likely to prejudice Mr. Abrego’s right to a fair trial,” Garcia’s attorney’s said in a statement.
Crenshaw has not ruled on the request.
