Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, provided an in-depth update of the latest legal filings in the case of alleged human smuggler and citizen of El Salvador Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Abrego Garcia was transported from El Salvador to Nashville last month, where he pleaded not guilty in a federal court after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged him with participating in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens throughout the country for nearly a decade.
As Abrego Garcia remains in DOJ custody in Tennessee and has a hearing set for July 16 before Chief Judge Waverly Crenshaw who will decide whether he should be released from DOJ custody, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys representing him for his immigration case in Maryland are trying to override the Tennessee proceedings by asking Judge Paula Xinis to rule that Garcia should be transferred to Maryland and released from custody altogether.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers initially wanted him placed in ICE custody; however, when the DOJ clarified that this could lead to another deportation, his attorneys shifted gears and are now demanding a habeas corpus hearing, pushing for a ruling that would compel Abrego Garcia’s full release in Maryland.
The lawyers representing Abrego Garcia in his immigration case argue that a previous Supreme Court decision, which mandated the Trump administration to “facilitate the return” of Abrego Garcia, gives federal judges no choice but to allow the alleged human smuggler to resume his immigration case on U.S. soil.
Pappert pointed out how Maryland Judge Xinis has been sympathetic to Garcia’s legal team and added that the “worst case scenario” in Abrego Garcia’s case is if he was ordered to be released from federal custody completely and “walk free” prior to his hearing for the charges he faces in Tennessee.
“That would be, I think, a terrible day in terms of press for the Trump administration and a big victory for the left and Garcia’s lawyers,” Pappert said.
Pappert warned that if Abrego Garcia was ordered to be released, the case would certainly escalate as the Trump administration would immediately appeal and possibly set up another decision to be weighed by the Supreme Court.
“Everybody is watching carefully what happens in Maryland because should this judge rule that ICE must start moving Kilmar toward the east, back towards Maryland if he’s transferred to their custody, I have a feeling you’re going to see possibly a more contentious court appearance on Friday in front of Judge Waverley Crenshaw as he weighs, essentially, setting the stage for another Supreme Court ruling if he allows Kilmar Abrego Garcia to leave DOJ custody,” he explained.
In addition to the proceedings regarding Abrego Garcia’s potential release, his attorneys have introduced new claims that he was physically and emotionally tortured while in custody in El Salvador, alleging he lost 31 pounds and suffered abuse—claims Pappert finds questionable.
Pappert specifically pointed to photos and videos from Abrego Garcia’s April 2025 meeting with U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in El Salvador, where Abrego Garcia appeared healthy, relaxed, and even slightly overweight.
“Folks at home can go look up the photos of them sipping margaritas. Kilmar did not look like an emaciated survivor of some sort of death camp…He did not look starved. He did not look harmed,” Pappert said.
He further pointed out how Senator Van Hollen himself publicly stated he saw no signs of abuse and confirmed that Abrego Garcia was receiving medical care for a blood pressure condition at the time he visited with him in El Salvador.
“Senator Chris Van Hollen was asked if there were any signs of abuse? Is he being tortured? He replied, ‘I did not get that sense. Look, you never know, but I asked him if he was okay and he said yes.’ The senator also confirmed, by the way, that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had access to a medical doctor and was receiving treatment for a blood pressure condition,” he said.
Politically, Pappert argued that Abrego Garcia’s case is damaging for Democrats, especially considering Garcia was allegedly caught transporting nine illegal aliens in a van owned by a convicted smuggler, and new filings allege he behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner toward smuggled individuals, including underage girls, with testimony expected from two alleged co-conspirators.
“I think this is a losing battle and they know it, but they don’t know what to do with it because they’ve already signed on the dotted line for the fight, and I think it’s just going to get crazier,” Pappert said.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on Roku
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStar https://t.co/Kf50MTwoSB— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) July 7, 2025
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
So if you manage to illegally stay in the U. S. long enough these rogue judges can just bestow the rights of AMERICAN CITIZENS on you? That’s the system now? Habeas corpus is one of the rights of AMERICAN CITIZENS under the Constitution of the United States of America. NOT ILLEGAL INVADERS.