A federal immigration judge on Wednesday declined the request by Kilmar Abrego Garcia to reopen his immigration case, based partially on claims that his March deportation and his June return to face federal human smuggling charges materially changed his immigration status. On the same day, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the court that the federal government shutdown would prevent its lawyers from proceeding with work on the civil lawsuit seeking to block the immigration authorities from deporting Abrego Garcia to Eswatini, the landlocked African nation.
Immigration Judge Philip P. Taylor, who was appointed during the first Trump administration, reportedly found “insufficient evidence” to reopen the case, including a lack of evidence suggesting the Trump administration sought to deport him to Uganda.
After Abrego Garcia returned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in August, the government first sought to deport him to Uganda. Abrego Garcia notified the government of his fear of persecution or torture in that nation, at which time the government changed his country of removal to Eswatini.
In a statement posted to X, DHS wrote, “This MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator will never be loose on American streets.”
DHS stated, “His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain, this Salvadoran man is not going to be able to remain in our country. He will never be allowed to prey on innocent Americans again.”
With today’s ruling, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s final order of removal stands.
This MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator will never be loose on American streets.
His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain,…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 1, 2025
The judge’s decision came as Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate submitted notice to U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, informing the court that Abrego Garcia’s civil lawsuits against the Trump administration should be frozen due to the government shutdown.
“At the end of the day on September 30, 2025, the appropriations act that had been funding the Department of Justice lapsed,” the filing informed the court. “Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal Defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances,” which do not appear to include civil lawsuits brought by illegal immigrants facing deportation.
Noting that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys did not consent to the motion, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney requested an indefinite suspension of court deadlines until the government reopens.
Though the decision by the immigration judge preserved Abrego Garcia’s 2019 final deportation order, which specified that he would not be deported to one of two nations, El Salvador or Guatemala, the DOJ has promised Xinis that Abrego Garcia will not be deported until she issues a final ruling in the case.
These decisions leave Abrego Garcia awaiting the outcome of his lawsuit at an ICE processing facility in Pennsylvania. He has been in ICE custody since late August, and the federal government says it has the authority to keep Abrego Garcia for up to six months as his immigration cases are decided.
Abrego Garcia was originally returned to Tennessee in June after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment alleging he spent nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling ring.
The criminal charges against Abrego Garcia stem from the November 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), which The Tennessee Star first reported in April. A THP spokesman told The Star Abrego Garcia was released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI,” despite a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document showing troopers suspected human trafficking.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty, and his case is scheduled to reach trial in 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].
Who says that nothing good can come out of a government shutdown?