Judge orders Abrego Garcia's release, but government expected to detain him

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador then returned to the U.S. amid a legal battle, was ordered released from jail on Sunday by a Tennessee judge while he awaits federal trial.

The government, however, is expected to quickly detain him upon his release, which U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes scheduled a Wednesday hearing to discuss.

The Justice Department has filed a motion to appeal the judge’s release order.

At a detention hearing on June 13, prosecutors said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial.

The new charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia was stopped for speeding, and an officer questioned why he was traveling with so many people without luggage.

The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia falsely told the officer he was driving construction workers from St. Louis, but he was actually on one of multiple trips organized to transport migrants who were living in the country without legal status.

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia have cast the case as one of trumped-up charges and a way for the administration to save face after allowing him to be wrongly imprisoned for nearly three months.

The Trump administration had resisted court orders directing that Abrego Garcia be returned to the U.S., but he was swiftly returned in early June as the Justice Department announced charges for the Maryland resident, who is a Salvadoran national.

Holmes acknowledged in her ruling Sunday that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is “little more than an academic exercise” because ICE will likely detain him. But the judge wrote that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and “a full and fair determination of whether he must remain in federal custody pending trial.”

Holmes wrote that the government failed to prove that Abrego was a flight risk, that he posed a danger to the community or that he would interfere with proceedings if released.

“Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego’s release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community,” the judge wrote.

Rebecca Beitsch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.