Category: Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Obama-Appointed Judge Schedules Hearing to Determine If Kilmar Abrego Garcia Can Be Deported to Liberia

Tom Pappert
KAG

Following the recent decision by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Tuesday, a hearing was scheduled in the second lawsuit brought by Kilmar Abrego Garcia against the Trump administration after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied part of the Trump administration’s appeal of two of Xinis’ orders.

While the appellate court said it would consider whether to reverse the Obama-appointed judge’s decision blocking ICE from arresting Abrego Garcia, it rejected the Trump administration’s argument that Xinis had already constructively denied its appeal of the judge’s order barring Abrego Garcia’s deportation to Liberia.

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DOJ Appeals Obama-Appointed Judge’s Decision to Drop Case Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Says Order ‘Erroneous at Every Step’

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday filed an appeal to the decision by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, to drop the federal government’s human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia over a purported failure of the DOJ to rebut claims of vindictive prosecution. 

Submitted by U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek, the appeal argues, “The district court’s order dismissing the charges against Abrego is erroneous at every step.” The appeal claims Crenshaw applied an incorrect legal standard when weighing the possibility of vindictive prosecution, as no other judicial circuit allows the presumption of vindictiveness to be applied to an initial indictment.

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Pappert: Abrego Garcia Case Shows Impact of Obama, Biden Judicial Appointments

Kaitlin Housler
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the prolonged legal battle surrounding Kilmar Abrego Garcia highlights what he described as the lasting impact of judicial appointments made during the Obama and Biden administrations, arguing the case demonstrates how federal judges can shape immigration policy through their rulings.

Pappert previously broke the story for The Star that Abrego Garcia was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in 2022 while transporting nine people in a vehicle under circumstances that raised suspicions of human trafficking.

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Appeals Court Allows Appeal of Decision Blocking ICE Detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but Sends Deportation Fight Back to Obama-Appointed Judge

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District this week allowed the Trump administration’s appeal of a decision blocking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia to proceed, but simultaneously granted the request by the foreign national to return his deportation fight to District Court Judge Paula Xinis. 

In a decision released publicly on Wednesday, the three-judge Fourth Circuit panel rejected the portion of the appeal included by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that sought to reverse Xinis’ block on deporting Abrego Garcia to Liberia, the West Africa country that was first identified as the federal government’s preferred destination to deport him last October. 

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DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin Tells Congress He Will Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica

Tom Pappert
KAG Costa Rica

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Tuesday that his agency would end its opposition to deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica, where the State Department previously obtained diplomatic assurances regarding his treatment as part of 2025 negotiations for a plea deal that he ultimately rejected.

Since last August, in multiple arguments submitted to the court and public media appearances, the immigration attorneys representing Abrego Garcia have argued that their client would consent to immediate deportation to Costa Rica, and claimed that his decision to designate the country his preferred destination for removal made it the only valid option for the Trump administration. 

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Pappert Details New Court Filing Seeking to Make Costa Rica Abrego Garcia’s Sole Deportation Destination

Kaitlin Housler
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, detailed a new court filing in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case that seeks to make Costa Rica the sole lawful destination for his deportation, even as the Trump administration continues to challenge the proposal and pursue its appeal in federal court.

Appearing on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed a filing submitted by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys on Wednesday asking U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to declare Costa Rica the only lawful destination for his deportation.

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DOJ Reportedly Investigates Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll over Initial Denial that Reid Hoffman Funded Lawsuit

Tom Pappert
E. Jean Carroll / CNN

The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly opened an investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who sued President Donald Trump over her claim he sexually abused her in a department store dressing room sometime during the 1990s, over possible perjury committed during a deposition in 2022, when Carroll claimed she received no outside compensation for her litigation.

First revealed by CNN as an exclusive on Wednesday night, Reuters corroborated the reporting on Thursday, and additionally unearthed that the investigation is being conducted in the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in the Northern District of Illinois, who was appointed in April 2025.

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Abrego Garcia Asks Obama-Appointed Judge to Declare Costa Rica Only Legal Destination for Deportation amid Appeal

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The immigration attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garica on Wednesday asked U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, to issue a ruling declaring that Costa Rica is the only legal destination for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deport their client, citing his decision to designate the nation his preferred destination after it made diplomatic assurances to the State Department during failed negotiations for a plea deal last year. 

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys submitted the request in response to Xinis instructing the plaintiffs to update the court following the decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to appeal her order blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Abrego Garcia. 

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Tennessee U.S. Attorney ‘Evaluating Appeal’ After Obama-Appointed Judge Drops Human Smuggling Case Against Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert
US Atty Braden Boucek

U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek on Monday told The Tennessee Star that prosecutors in the Middle District of Tennessee are evaluating plans to appeal the Friday ruling by Obama-appointed District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who dropped the federal human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, determining the Department of Justice (DOJ) “failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness.”

“The undisputed evidence shows that the decision to charge Abrego was made by a career prosecutor based solely on the facts and the substantial evidence that a serious crime had been committed and deserved prosecution,” said Boucek.

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Leahy, Pappert Blast Obama-Appointed Judge for Dismissing Abrego Garcia Human Smuggling Case

Kaitlin Housler
MPL and Pappert

The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy and lead reporter Tom Pappert criticized U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw for dismissing the federal human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, arguing the judge ignored critical reporting about the role of the Biden-era FBI in the 2022 Tennessee traffic stop that sparked the investigation.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy highlighted The Star’s Monday publication of a lengthy report authored by Pappert and himself examining Crenshaw’s ruling.

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Obama-Appointed Judge’s Dismissal of Human Smuggling Case Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia Ignored Evidence Biden-Era FBI Quashed Investigation into 2022 Traffic Stop

Tom Pappert and Michael Patrick Leahy
Judge Wavery Crenshaw and Kilmar Abrego Garcia courtroom sketch

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw omitted key evidence from his Friday ruling dismissing the federal human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, including reporting by The Tennessee Star that was seemingly referenced during testimony, revealing the “Biden-era FBI” directed Tennessee authorities to release Abrego Garcia during a 2022 traffic stop despite suspecting human trafficking. Instead, the Obama-appointed judge sided with the foreign national, ruling the Trump administration failed to overcome a presumption of vindictive prosecution.

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DOJ Promises Appeal After Obama-Appointed Judge Tosses Abrego Garcia Case Despite Insufficient Evidence of Vindictive Prosecution

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The federal human smuggling indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador accused of participating in a human smuggling ring for years, was dismissed for vindictive prosecution on Friday by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice told The Tennessee Star on Friday that the federal government intends to appeal Crenshaw’s decision. 

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Trump Admin Appeals ‘Open-Ended Injunction’ Blocking Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by Obama-Appointed Judge

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The Trump administration filed its notice of appeal of the February 17 decision by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, which converted an earlier order into a formal injunction blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from arresting and deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Notifying the court of its appeal to the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) noted that Xinis first enjoined the Trump administration from detaining Abrego Garcia last September, despite the government’s request that the injunction be dissolved, first in November and again in March.

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Board of Nashville Charter School with Muslim Prayer Led by ‘Resistance’ Scholar, Included Lawyer Representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert
Brandi Kellett, Lipscomb University

The board of the Valor Collegiate Academies, the public charter school company in Nashville whose high school principal confirmed modifying its bell schedule to accommodate Muslim prayer for students, includes board members who are prominent for their affiliation with political causes, litigation, or scholarship.

The board is currently led by Brandi Kellett, a professor at Lipscomb University who both chairs its English and Modern Languages Department and directs the university’s Liberal Arts Core.

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DOJ Filing in Abrego Garcia Case Highlights How Trump Filled Key ICE Role amid Senate Challenges

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A filing by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the immigration lawsuit by Kilmar Abrego Garcia revealed how President Donald Trump created a new position to serve the duties performed by the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), amid criticism suggesting U.S. Senate is mismanaging the confirmation process for his appointments.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys previously argued to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, that the decision by ICE to disregard Abrego Garcia’s designation of Costa Rica as his preferred destination for removal was invalid, because Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons was illegally serving in the position when he made the decision. Lyons received the rule in February 2025, far longer than the 210 days allotted under the Federal Vacancies and Reform Act (FVRA).

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Amicus Brief Declaring Plan to Deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia ‘Punitive’ Includes Researcher Who Favors Abolishing ICE Detention

Tom Pappert
KAG

Five immigration law professors filed an amicus brief in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, arguing that deporting him to Liberia, or any third country where he has no ties, constitutes punishment under the Constitution and requires additional review by the court for potential Eighth Amendment violations.

With Abrego Garcia unable to be returned to El Salvador due to a withholding of removal granted as part of his 2019 immigration case, Xinis issued an injunction earlier this year to formally block Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) from detaining him, ruling the agency lacked a realistic plan to deport him from the country.
With Abrego Garcia unable to be returned to El Salvador due to a withholding of removal granted as part of his 2019 immigration case, Xinis issued an injunction earlier this year to formally block ICE from detaining Abrego Garcia, ruling it did not have a realistic plan to deport him from the country. Last month, federal lawyers notified the Obama-appointed jurist that ICE disregarded Abrego Garcia’s preference to be removed to Costa Rica, arguing it was made years too late to be considered, and that final plans were in place to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia.

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Pappert: Award-Winning Tennessee Star Reporting Undercuts Abrego Garcia’s Vindictive Prosecution Claim

Kaitlin Housler
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, argued that newly confirmed facts in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia undermine the defense’s central claim of vindictive prosecution.

“This fact flies in the face of that narrative because it suggests this case was completely organic and again, came through the media and public reporting,” Pappert said during Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, pointing to federal filings that acknowledge investigators first learned of the case through reporting by The Star.

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Obama-Appointed Judge Sets Hearing Date that Could Block DOJ from Appealing Earlier Kilmar Abrego Garcia Ruling

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis issued a scheduling order on Tuesday, announcing that the court will spend the remainder of April preparing for an April 28 briefing on whether to dissolve its injunction blocking the detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The Obama-appointed judge specifically repudiated the Department of Justice (DOJ) over its request for her to announce a decision by April 17, which is one day before the 60-day period to appeal her February order blocking the Trump administration from rearresting the citizen of El Salvador. 

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Federal Filings Confirm Prosecutors Learned of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Brush with THP from Tennessee Star Reporting

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The criminal defense attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Monday acknowledged in a filing that federal investigators began building a case against their client after The Tennessee Star reported last April that he was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in November 2022, when the “Biden-era FBI” instructed troopers to release him. 

Following the February 26 evidentiary hearing called by U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, when prosecutors were called to explain why their case against Abrego Garcia is not vindictive, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys noted in their filing that Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire testified that first learned of the 2022 traffic stop after a colleague read an article from The Star. 

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DOJ Filing Derailed Agreed Schedule for Sanctions Proceedings in Abrego Garcia Case, Emails Show

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Emails from attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Monday reveal that the Trump administration’s legal motion last Friday requesting U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis dissolve her order blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining the alleged human smuggler derailed a schedule for sanctions proceedings that was settled the same day.

According to emails between a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney and one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, both parties came to an agreement on a filing schedule at 5:00 p.m. last Friday, complying with the court’s instructions to create a schedule in order to conclude Abrego Garcia’s first lawsuit against the Trump administration.

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Trump Admin Urges Judge to Clear Immediate Path for Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, Setting Stage for Appeal

Tom Pappert
KAG

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted a filing last week asking District Court Judge Paula Xinis to dissolve her order prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged human smuggler whom the Obama-appointed judge ordered the agency to release in December 2025.

Despite the Trump administration working for months to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia, Xinis ruled last year that he must be released, determining the only possible destination for his removal is Costa Rica, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has declined to consider, leaving no realistic option for his removal.

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Data: ICE Deported Fewer than 40,000 Illegals Between October and Late February

Daily Caller News Foundation
Police ICE

At first blush the Trump administration’s deportation numbers reflect an unparalleled effort to remove vast numbers of illegal immigrants. However, internal data — and the delayed release of the administration’s annual enforcement report — tells a more complicated story.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted slightly over 35,500 deportations from Oct. 1, 2025 to late February, according to internal figures obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Unlike publicly available figures that conflate deportation with border turnarounds and voluntary departures, the internal data only pertains to deportations of foreigners under an order of removal by an immigration judge.

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Groupies Treat Federal Case Against Illegal Alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia As If It Were a ‘Civil Rights Crusade’ Says Legal Analyst Mark Pulliam

Kaitlin Housler
Mark Pulliam

Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said last week’s federal court hearing over the prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia revealed what he described as a politicized atmosphere surrounding what he called an otherwise routine criminal case.

Appearing in the studio on Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pulliam recounted his experience attending last week’s hearing before U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who is weighing whether to dismiss the human smuggling indictment against Abrego Garcia on grounds of alleged vindictive prosecution.

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NES Denies Conflict of Interest After Hiring Law Firm Where Board Chair’s Son is Lawyer

Tom Pappert
Rascoe Dean

Nashville Electric Service on Thursday told The Tennessee Star that it was not a conflict of interest for the municipally owned power company to enlist Sherrard Roe Voigt and Harbison as one of two law firms who will supervise the completion of a third-party report, despite NES board chair Anne Davis being the mother of the firm’s attorney, Rascoe Dean. 

NES tapped both Sherrard Roe and a second law firm, Adams and Reese, to oversee a third-party review of the company’s response to Winter Storm Fern, told The Star the attorneys would, “ensure that an unbiased, independent review will be conducted, including a review of the board’s own actions.”

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DOJ, HSI Witnesses Testify Abrego Garcia Case Came from Tennessee Star Reporting to Counter Vindictive Prosecution Claims

Tom Pappert
Sketch - Crenshaw Courtroom

U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Wednesday heard testimony from a former top Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) official and the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee over the request by Kilmar Abrego Garcia for the court to drop his human smuggling case for vindictive prosecution.

The first witness to testify was Rana Saoud, who recently retired after serving in federal law enforcement for decades, including most recently as the HSI Special Agent in Charge for the agency’s Nashville office.

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Obama-Appointed Judge Sets Thursday Evidentiary Hearing to Arguments for Tossing Charges Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Monday scheduled an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, when prosecutors will answer the request to toss their human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia over his claims of vindictive prosecution. 

Crenshaw, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, scheduled the hearing for Thursday at 9 a.m., with prosecutors and Abrego Garcia’s defense attorneys scheduled to exchange copies of exhibits they intend to enter into evidence by Wednesday at noon. 

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Obama-Appointed Judge Rejects Request to Livestream Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case

Tom Pappert
Judge Pauls Xinis

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis on Wednesday responded to a request by Fix the Court, a third-party legal organization seeking permission to intervene in the second lawsuit by Kilmar Abrego Garcia against the Trump administration, and calling for video of the court’s proceedings to be streamed online.

Though the judge, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, granted the group permission to be heard in the court, Xinis denied their request to livestream court proceedings outright. 

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New Filing Shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia Originally Detained During 2019 Murder Probe After Alleged Contact with Validated MS-13 Members

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A 2019 document, created by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2019 and surfaced through Tuesday court filing, appears to contain new details about the circumstances which led to the original ICE detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Maryland. 

Though it was reported last year that Abrego Garcia was detained with other men while seeking day labor outside a Home Depot in Maryland, ultimately leading to his disputed designation as a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and his 2019 deportation case, the new filing by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys included the Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien, or I-213, completed by the ICE for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in March 2019. 

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Obama-Appointed Judge Issues Injunction Blocking Detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Setting Stage for DHS to Appeal

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis on Tuesday issued an injunction blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged human smuggler and illegal alien from El Salvador. The Obama-appointed jurist ruled Abrego Garcia cannot be detained because his deportation is not imminent, and his 90-day window to appeal his final deportation order expired in 2019. 

Siding with Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, Xinis effectively blocked the Trump administration from detaining Abrego Garcia unless it is willing to deport him to Costa Rica, which he declared his preferred destination after the U.S. Secretary of State obtained diplomatic assurances during failed plea deal negotiations last year.

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Abrego Garcia Lawyers Argue No Changes to Detention Clock After New Deportation Order Despite Acknowledging January Appeal Window

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The immigration attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in his lawsuits against U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argued in a Monday filing that the amended final deportation order filed for their client in December did not reset the clock for him to be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite acknowledging it reset his 30-day appeal window in a filing submitted in January. 

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys began their arguments in the 17-page filing with this claim, arguing that the December 2025 order by an immigration judge could not be a final deportation order because it only sought to correct the original order issued in 2019, which included withholding of removal language that kept the alleged human smuggler from being deported to El Salvador, but did not specifically order him removed from the United States. 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Declines to Appeal Amended Final Deportation Order

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a court filing submitted Thursday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia did not appeal his final deportation.

Abrego Garcia’s decision came after he entered a 30-day appeal period after his final deportation order from 2019 was amended on December 11, 2025, following the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, who declared the original language did not constitute a deportation order because it did not specifically order him deported to El Salvador. 

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DOJ Letter Claims Abrego Garcia Attorneys Sought Access to Sealed Documents Reviewed by Obama-Appointed Judge

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A November letter from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to the criminal defense attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia, made public through their Wednesday filing, revealed that prosecutors accused them of seeking access to documents under sealed review by U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, the Obama-appointed jurist overseeing the human smuggling case against their client. 

Submitted as part of a request for Crenshaw to order prosecutors to provide materials related to its witnesses in the human smuggling case, the letter was written by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. It contained a flat denial of requests within a letter sent to the DOJ by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys. 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Filing Again Claims Alleged Human Smuggler Could Be Deported to Costa Rica

Tom Pappert
KAG Costa Rica

The immigration attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Monday submitted a legal filing to U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, the appointee of former President Barack Obama overseeing his lawsuits against the Trump administration, claiming that Costa Rica is the only nation where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can legally deport their client. 

Submitted amid its objections to the government’s arguments for returning their client to ICE custody, the immigration attorneys said the Trump administration has no path to remove Abrego Garcia from the country because it has yet to make arrangements for his deportation to Costa Rica. 

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ICE Official Says Abrego Garcia’s Alleged Ties to MS-13 Mean Illegal Immigrant ‘Poses a Danger to the Community’

Tom Pappert
KAG

A top U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official argued in a Monday declaration submitted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to District Court Judge Paula Xinis, the Obama-appointed jurist overseeing the immigration lawsuits filed against the Trump administration by Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that the alleged human smuggler should be returned to ICE custody, and only the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could authorize his release until after January 12.

The declaration by ICE Assistant Director Liana J. Castano came in response to the judge’s request for DHS to provide more details about its authority to resume detention of Abrego Garcia, who was released on December 11 after Xinis ruled that the final outcome of his 2019 deportation case did not include a deportation order, and his period of detention exceeded the maximum ICE could detain an illegal immigrant whose case concluded without a viable option for removal. 

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DOJ Slams Abrego Garcia Attorneys for ‘Playing Fast and Loose’ in Filings for Human Smuggling Case

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek on Monday filed the Department of Justice (DOJ) motion opposing the request for sanctions submitted to District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw by the criminal defense attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia, claiming remarks by an official with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in cable news interviews violated the Obama-appointed jurist’s October gag order. 

In the filing, the prosecutor wrote that the December 19 request for sanctions came despite the defense attorneys recently erring by releasing a portion of a redacted court order through their own submission to the judge, which required an amended version to be submitted to the court. 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Now Subject to Electronic Monitoring by Both ICE and U.S. Marshals

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A filing submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the second immigration lawsuit filed by Kilmar Abrego Garcia against the Trump administration reveals that the alleged human smuggler is now subject to electronic tracking from two federal agencies, with both the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now monitoring his location. 

The Friday filing informed U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, that ICE served Abrego Garcia on Wednesday with a new notice informing him of his new conditions of release from immigration detention, which was ordered by the judge on December 11. 

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DHS Says ‘Justice Ceases to Function’ as Abrego Garcia Posts to Social Media After Judges Block Arrest, Cancel Trial, Gag Trump Administration

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on Saturday noted that her department is barred from publicly commenting on the human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was recently released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis despite admitting in 2019 that he illegally entered the country, while Abrego Garcia is publicly posting to social media. 

“So we, at [DHS], are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks,” wrote McLaughlin in a post to X. “American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system.”

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Due Process Concerns Dominate Abrego Garcia Case, but Courts Ignored Similar Red Flags in Derek Chauvin Trial

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Derek Chauvin

In 2025, courtrooms and advocates have repeatedly highlighted due process concerns in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who entered the United States illegally more than a decade ago and faces human smuggling charges. The activity appears to reflect a shift in attitude toward procedural fairness arguments, which fell flat when raised by Derek Chauvin during his 2021 trial for the murder of George Floyd.

The contrasting treatment of the two defendants is evident even in pretrial detention and release decisions. After Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March 2025, his attorneys secured federal court rulings, including from the U.S. Supreme Court, requiring the Trump administration to facilitate his return. He was released to the United States by El Salvador in June 2025, after a federal indictment alleging he spent nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling operation was unsealed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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Obama-Appointed Judge Delays Decision on ICE Detention for Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tom Pappert
KAG and supporters

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, on Monday said she would delay her decision on whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia can be returned to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody until she receives more information about the case for detaining the alleged human smuggler.

According to Law 360 reporter Jared Foretek, who was the first to announce the outcome of the hearing, Xinis said she would maintain her restraining order blocking Abrego Garcia’s detention by ICE until she learns more about the government’s argument that it has authority to detain Abrego Garcia. Foretek also reported that the judge will announce her decision after December 25. 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Concedes ‘Final Order of Deportation Has Now Been Issued’ in New Filing

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in his immigration lawsuits against the Trump administration on Thursday conceded that their client has been issued a final order of deportation in a submission to U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, but argued that their client should not be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the appeal process. 

While the attorneys earlier this week submitted a filing announcing that Abrego Garcia “disputes the validity” of the final deportation order amended by Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor on December 11, and claimed that the window to appeal the decision expired in 2019, they appeared to reverse both positions in their Thursday filing, while maintaining their argument that the Obama-appointed judge should not dissolve her order blocking his detention by ICE. 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia ‘Disputes the Validity’ of Amended Final Deportation Order, but Claims it Justifies Release

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

In response U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) motion arguing District Court Judge Paula Xinis must dissolve her temporary restraining order blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia following the corrections to his final deportation order made last week, Abrego Garcia’s immigration attorneys on Wednesday argued their client is ineligible for detention because the 30-day window to appeal the immigration court’s ruling expired in 2019.

Confirming Abrego Garcia “disputes the validity” of the final deportation order amended by Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor, the filing argued the court should nonetheless, “accept the order for what it purports to be,” because it does not change Xinis’ December 11 orders requiring his release and blocking further ICE detention. 

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Immigration Judge’s Fix to Final Deportation Order for Abrego Garcia Removes One Reference to ‘Guatemala’ but Preserves Three More

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The amended final deportation order for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, modified on December 11 by Immigration Judge Philip Taylor to include language specifically ordering his deportation to El Salvador, also replaced one of the four references to Guatemala contained in the original, 2019 order.

Taylor issued the modified order hours after U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered Abrego Garcia to be released, declaring that the final order issued by Immigration Judge David Jones against Abrego Garcia in 2019 did not qualify as a final deportation order because it only acknowledged that Abrego Garcia conceded his eligibility for deportation, but did not actively order it.

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DHS Obtains New Final Deportation Order for Abrego Garcia, Lawyers Seek More Time to Respond

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week notified District Court Judge Paula Xinis that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obtained a new, final deportation order in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged human smuggler who Xinis claimed was never issued a final order despite his immigration case concluding in 2019. 

In a filing posted publicly on Monday, the DOJ noted that Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, recently ordered Abrego Garcia’s release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, claiming that the final order in his 2019 immigration case, “despite having accepted Petitioner’s admission of alleged facts and concession of the grounds of removal, had neglected to include the words ‘ordered removed’ at the end” of the decision. 

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