Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from criminal custody in Tennessee and is on his way to Maryland, his attorney confirmed Friday.
Abrego Garcia, 29, was freed after U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes authorized his release while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges in Nashville. His legal team has arranged for private security to transport him directly to Maryland, where he previously lived with his family before his arrest earlier this year, according to a report from CBS News.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slammed a pair of judge’s that offered Abrego Garcia a chance to remain out of federal custody pending his trial, as well as “activist liberal judges” that had previously found that the government must “facilitate” his return to the United States after he was deported in March. Five months ago, he was deported to El Salvador, his home country, despite a 2019 immigration court limiting his removal due to fears he would face gang violence.
“By ordering this monster loose on America’s streets, this judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people. We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country,” Noem said in a statement Friday afternoon.
Following his return to the U.S. in June, prosecutors charged Abrego Garcia with conspiracy to transport migrants illegally across the country, a case tied to a 2022 traffic stop where police discovered eight other individuals in the vehicle.
It was also revealed by DHS in April also his wife Jennifer Vazquez filed domestic abuse complaints against him on two separate occasions in November 2020 and in 2021. The Justice Department has also accused him of ties to the violent MS-13 gang, allegations his lawyers deny, and his trial is scheduled to begin in January.
Notably, the DOJ did not take an opportunity this week to contest Abrego Garcia’s request for the court to lift a temporary hold on his release.
His return to Maryland, while a short-lived victory for the undocumented Salvadoran and his family, does not resolve the government’s parallel effort to remove him and suggests those efforts could be underway in the coming days.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement still has the authority to place him back into custody and pursue deportation, and thanks to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer, it has the chance to seek his deportation to a country other than El Salvador.
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A Maryland-based federal judge ruled on July 11 that ICE must restore him to its supervision program and give his attorneys 72 hours’ notice before attempting another removal.
That notice could be given as soon as Abrego Garcia arrives in Maryland, immigration experts previously told the Washington Examiner.
