DOJ plans to prosecute Abrego Garcia; deportation on the table

Dueling headlines about alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia contend the U.S. government will either try him for crimes committed here or promptly deport him.  

But the conflicting stories may just mean the Trump administration is keeping its options open, depending on what the many courts trying to assert jurisdiction in the case might do. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled against courts applying universal injunctions, which have hampered the administration’s attempts to enforce immigration laws.

In any event, it’s clear the Trump administration’s position is Abrego Garcia should not be free in the community. He is being held at a local detention facility in Nashville, Tennessee.

“This defendant has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again,” said Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesman Chad Gilmartin.

Although the legacy media has referred to Abrego Garcia as a “Maryland man” living peacefully, the Trump administration deported him to his native El Salvador because of his alleged gang ties and his illegal status. He was then transferred to the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, reserved for El Salvador’s most incorrigible gang members.   

Now returned to the U.S. under a court order, Abrego Garcia faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and transportation of illegal immigrants – charges prosecutors say will be backed up by the testimony of his co-conspirator gang members.  

“Over the course of the conspiracy, the co-conspirators knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens who had no authorization to be present in the United States, and many of whom were MS-13 members and associates,” said the government.  

The Associated Press (AP) reported that while a federal magistrate in Nashville, Tennessee recently decided Abrego Garcia can go free while awaiting trial on federal charges, she hasn’t yet released him. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes granted his release, denying the government’s position that he was a danger to the community or a flight risk, said the AP.  

But his own attorneys want Abrego Garcia behind bars, because if released, he will be surrendered to agents at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and be subject to deportation, again, they said.  

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of the Federal District Court in Maryland ruled on April 4 Abrego Garcia had a valid claim to asylum status because his life would be in danger if returned to El Salvador. 

On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted an order against the Trump administration which now allows illegal immigrants to be deported to a third country, instead of their home country.  

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked Xinis to intervene in the Nashville case, but the judge said she has to rule on a number of issues, including a request for a dismissal from the Trump administration on the original order demanding the alleged trafficker be brought back to the U.S. 

Xinis scheduled a hearing for July 7 to hear motions on the request to stop a possible deportation.