The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday asked Obama-appointed District Court Judge Paula Xinis to delay her October 6 hearing for the latest lawsuit filed by Kilmar Abrego Garcia against the Trump administration, which sought to delay the government’s previous effort to deport him to Uganda.
Noting Abrego Garcia recently asked for Xinis to grant discovery against the Trump administration to determine how it selected Uganda, despite the government now seeking his removal to Eswatini, a landlocked African nation, and citing their earlier admonitions that many Abrego Garcia’s claims should be adjudicated in immigration and appellate courts, the DOJ attorneys asked Xinis to delay the hearing until at least two weeks after his immigration disputes conclude.
“Respondents respectfully request that the Court continue the October 6, 2025 evidentiary hearing until 14-28 days after Petitioner’s immigration proceedings conclude,” wrote the DOJ attorneys, adding that they, “would continue not to remove” the alleged human smuggler from the country, “prior to the evidentiary hearing.”
Abrego Garcia has claimed that his legal status changed after he was returned to the United States in June after being deported to El Salvador in April. He has filed a new petition seeking refugee status and claiming he fears persecution or torture in El Salvador.
The filing was submitted only days after the DOJ accused Abrego Garcia of being “unserious” in his legal filings, and of engaging in “gamesmanship” to remain in the country under false pretenses.
Specifically, the DOJ noted that Abrego Garcia has questioned whether the Trump administration violated the law by not deporting him to his preferred destination for removal, Costa Rica, despite Abrego Garcia also claiming to fear persecution or torture in the Central American nation.
“Petitioner is thus claiming that his preferred destination country is somehow likely to persecute or torture him if he were sent there – a claim that, if he actually believed it, would presumably motivate him to choose a different destination,” the attorneys wrote.
Abrego Garcia was returned to Tennessee to face federal human smuggling charges which stem from his November 2022 traffic stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), which The Tennessee Star first reported in April.
Despite the Trump administration releasing a document confirming troopers suspected human trafficking during the stop, a THP spokesman told The Star that Abrego Garcia was released due to instructions from the “Biden-era FBI.”
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. His trial is currently scheduled for January 2026.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
