The public defenders representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the federal criminal case against him in Tennessee submitted a motion on Wednesday night that argued that U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes should not accept the government’s request to call a detention hearing in order to determine whether the citizen of El Salvador will remain incarcerated while awaiting trial for his alleged 9-year participation in an illegal immigrant smuggling ring.
Abrego Garcia’s motion was filed in response to the Monday request by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for a detention hearing, when the government argued that Abrego Garcia poses a significant flight risk, victimized minor children through his participation in the smuggling ring, and could intimidate or harm co-conspirators who provided information to the federal government if set free.
The Salvadoran citizen’s motion began by arguing that, because the Trump administration allegedly erred in its March deportation of Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, he could now secure asylum protections from an American immigration judge.
“With no legal process whatsoever, the United States government illegally detained and deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia and shipped him to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) in El Salvador,” noted Abrego Garcia’s public defenders. “The government now asks this Court to detain him further,” the order stated, before calling the potential for Abrego Garcia to be released pending trial an example of “due process.”
The attorneys then argued that Abrego Garcia’s alleged smuggling of minors should not require his confinement, as his purported actions did not victimize the children, but instead only put them at risk of danger.
Similarly, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys claim the DOJ argument that their client could intimidate or harm witnesses or co-conspirators is speculative, and that his alleged membership in the Central American gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), is not enough to justify such concerns.
The attorneys also claimed that the Salvadoran, who purportedly admitted to illegally entering the United States in 2012, and allegedly traveled the country smuggling people as his full-time job for nearly a decade, does not post a flight risk, as he has no history of international travel after illegally immigrating as a teenager, and has not previously fled justice.
Abrego Garcia is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, when various activist groups and nonprofits have organized a “Rapid Response Protest” to support the alleged human smuggler outside the Fred D. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building. The climate change group Extinction Rebellion and progressive National Lawyers Guild announced plans to train those planning to attend.
The Tennessee Star was first to report that Abrego Garcia was observed speeding and failing to maintain his lane by Tennessee Highway Patrol on November 30, 2022, when troopers suspected him of human trafficking during a stop in Putnam County. The Star was also first to report that the “Biden-era FBI” instructed troopers to release Abrego Garcia despite their suspicion he was engaged in human trafficking.
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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].
Image “CECOT Prison, El Salvador” by President Nayib Bukele.
To this illegal POS public defenders….go pound sand.
The guy should be sent back to the El Salvador prison once and for all.
Oh, he can be free to go right back to that prison in El Salvador!!!
What a shallow if not stupid defense position. What comes next most likely is he will file for a mistrial due to ineffective representation.
Lunacy
I wonder what the bail amount will be for this miscreant? If it is a nashville based progressive criminal court aclu judge, then it will be less than half a penny.