The New York criminal defense attorney representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the federal human smuggling case against him made three new filings to the court on Wednesday, including a request for a federal magistrate judge in Tennessee to issue an order that would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure Abrego Garcia can access his attorney if the illegal immigrant is detained again following his anticipated release on Friday.
Abrego Garcia’s request comes after he became eligible for release following the July ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, which determined that prosecutors were not entitled to a detention hearing. Crenshaw then returned the case to Magistrate Barbara Holmes, who previously indicated she would order the defendant’s release, subject to certain conditions, until his attorneys raised the possibility that Abrego Garcia could be deported if released from U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) custody.
On the same day Crenshaw made his July ruling, Abrego Garcia’s immigration attorneys secured a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, which will force ICE to give Abrego Garcia a 48-hour notice if it intends to detain him following his release.
His release was then preempted by another order, issued by Holmes, which ordered Abrego Garcia to remain in DOJ custody for another month, due to concerns about possible deportation.
Through the Wednesday filing, the alleged human smuggler asked Holmes to modify her order to comply with the ruling by Xinis “to allow him 48 hours to report to pretrial supervision in Maryland.”
He additionally asked Holmes to “order a requirement that, should Mr. Abrego be taken into ICE custody following his return to Maryland, ICE authorities ensure that his attorneys can access him, both physically and via telephone,” to fight his immigration charges.
Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Sean Hecker, submitted two other filings that ask Holmes to toss the case, claiming Abrego Garcia is being targeted with “vindictive and selective prosecution,” in a bid to conceal his alleged wrongful deportation by the Trump administration in March.
The citizen of El Salvador previously obtained a Supreme Court ruling demanding the Trump administration facilitate his return to the United States after a former federal prosecutor claimed in court that Abrego Garica’s deportation was wrongful despite his 2019 final deportation order containing a “withholding of removal” provision that only forbade his removal to Guatemala.
Weeks after The Tennessee Star reported that Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped Abrego Garcia in November 2022, when his release was ordered by the “Biden-era FBI” despite troopers’ suspicion he was engaged in human trafficking, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment against Abrego Garcia which accuses him of spending nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling ring.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the 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].
That’s funny!
HELL NO