Judge says Abrego Garcia will remain jailed, citing deportation concerns

A federal judge on Monday agreed to allow Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia to remain in jail awaiting further proceedings on federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee, siding with a request from lawyers who have argued in separate but related proceedings for his release.

The decision highlights how Abrego Garcia’s attorneys wish to avoid deportation. Though a magistrate judge on June 22 found Garcia not to be a danger or flight risk, his defense counsel in Tennessee has asked the court to delay his release, citing “contradictory statements” from the Trump administration over whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement would remove him from the United States before a trial.