U.S. Chief District Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Wednesday will determine whether the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is entitled to a detention hearing for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador accused of smuggling illegal immigrants for nearly a decade.
With the case assigned to him, Crenshaw will rule on Wednesday whether Magistrate Barbara Holmes erred when she ruled that prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence that Abrego Garcia merits a detention hearing, specifically by not adequately explaining why he will be a threat to the public if released, or by presenting evidence that his alleged crimes involved victim children, or that he would be a flight risk.
Though Holmes temporarily stayed her order after Abrego Garcia’s lawyers raised the possibility he could be deported if released, as Abrego Garcia is subject to a final deportation order and will likely be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if released, Crenshaw will make the final determination on Wednesday.
While the Abrego Garcia case is already the subject of national news coverage, Crenshaw (pictured above) is no stranger to high profile litigation, as he previously oversaw the 2021 lawsuit brought by Tennessee parents who claimed their disabled children were harmed by an executive order signed by Governor Bill Lee, which prohibited universal mask mandates for students.
Crenshaw ruled in December 2021 in favor of the plaintiffs, granting them an injunction that claimed Lee’s executive order subjected them to exclusion or harm, and asserting that face masks were a reasonable precaution that served the public interest of children attending school safely.
The controversial ruling ultimately withstood much of the COVID-19 pandemic, but was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in November 2022, when the court vacated the injunction, ruling that the children were not subject to real, identifiable harms through the lack of mask mandate, and thus did not have jurisdiction to bring the lawsuit.
Crenshaw also presided over the trial of former State Representative Brian Kelsey, who was pardoned earlier this year by President Donald Trump.
The Tennessee Star was the first outlet to report that Abrego Garcia was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol in November 2022, when the “Biden-era FBI” instructed troopers to release him despite their suspicion Abrego Garcia was engaged in human trafficking.
Abrego Garcia was returned to Tennessee on June 6, when the federal government unsealed its indictment accusing him of spending nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling ring. He has pleaded not guilty.
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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].
Photo “Judge Waverly Crenshaw” by Nashville School of Law.Â
