Nashville, Tennessee – A U.S. judge in Nashville, Tennessee, ordered on Sunday (June 22) that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who was mistakenly deported to his home country of El Salvador in March and then brought back to the United States in June, be released on bail pending trial for immigration smuggling charges.
The decision by Judge Barbara Holmes does not necessarily mean that Garcia will be able to reunite with his family. During a hearing on June 13, the judge stated that even if Garcia is granted bail, he could still be sent to an immigration detention center awaiting trial for another case.
Assistant U.S. prosecutor in the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, had previously filed a motion asking Judge Holmes to continue detaining Garcia, citing that he posed a threat to the community and a flight risk.
Garcia, a resident of Maryland, has a wife and young children who are U.S. citizens. A 2019 immigration court ruling determined that he should not be deported because he could face persecution from gangs upon return to El Salvador.
Law enforcement officials acknowledged that the deportation was an “administrative error,” but Garcia was not brought back to the U.S. until several months later.
Critics of the Trump administration have used this case to argue that the government prioritized increasing deportations without following proper procedures, which are fundamental principles of the U.S. legal system where individuals, regardless of citizenship, can challenge government actions in court.
The Trump administration pledged to crack down on illegal immigration, alleging that Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang, a claim his lawyer denies.
The Department of Justice brought Garcia back to the U.S. on June 6 and had already charged him, accusing him of participating in a smuggling ring with at least five accomplices to illegally bring immigrants into the country. Prosecutors alleged that the 29-year-old Garcia had helped smuggle immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border over 100 times, as well as trafficking firearms and drugs.
Garcia has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer claims that the charges brought by the Trump administration are meant to distract from their violation of Garcia’s rights and that the alleged accomplices cooperating with the prosecutors are not trustworthy as they seek to avoid deportation and criminal charges.
In her ruling on Sunday, Judge Holmes stated that the government failed to prove that Garcia posed a danger to the community or that he would not appear in court. The judge scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.
In another civil case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland, is investigating whether the Trump administration violated her order to assist Garcia in returning to the U.S. from El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the order unanimously.
(Reference from Reuters)