Kilmar Abrego Garcia waits for judges to decide on release, faces uncertain future in Maryland
The former Baltimore director of the immigrant advocacy group CASA stood side by side with Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, outside a Nashville, Tennessee, federal courthouse Wednesday, where they are fighting for his release.
"Kilmar, thanks to his family fighting forward, has become a symbol of strength, perseverance, and fight," Lydia Walther-Rodriguez told the crowd. "We continue to witness the inhumane action towards Kilmar."
Another supporter, Ian Montgomery with United Volunteers of Tennessee, said, "Mr. Abrego Garcia was by all accounts living a regular kind of life back in his home in Maryland, but he went from that regular life to being detained by ICE, tortured in a prison camp in El Salvador in three days. The government admitted that his imprisonment was wrongful, but they wouldn't let him out of prison until they could find something to put on him, which happened to be a 2022 traffic stop right here in Nashville, which went nowhere at the time."
No decisions on Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Waverly Crenshaw, the federal judge handling the case in Tennessee, heard testimony Wednesday but said he will not issue an immediate ruling on whether there are appropriate conditions to release Abrego Garcia while awaiting trial there.
Those charges stem from federal human smuggling allegations after a traffic stop in Tennessee three years ago.
The government argues Abrego Garcia is dangerous and a flight risk. A special agent with the Department of Homeland Security testified Wednesday to bolster their case.
Abrego Garcia's legal team fears that if he is released, the Trump Administration will immediately deport him from the United States—possibly to Mexico or South Sudan, which a top ICE official suggested last week are possibilities.
"It's hard to think about being in that position where you get dumped in a country where you have no contacts, have no language skills," said Benjamin Osorio, a member of Abrego Garcia's legal team. "It's a hard thought, and again, we're going to do everything we can to make sure he gets the due process he didn't receive before."
Osorio also spoke about the immediate steps they would take if the government moved to deport Abrego Garcia.
"We would trigger a 'reasonable fear interview' to that third country, so that would allow us to seek protection—a similar protection to what Mr. Abrego has right now from El Salvador to this new country," he said.
Maryland federal judge Paula Xinis has yet to rule on their emergency motion to force the government to return Abrego Garcia to Maryland and give them extra time to fight any deportation. The legal team has argued they will need a "bare minimum" of 72 hours.
She held three days of hearings in the case last week and said she would narrowly tailor any ruling to only impact Abrego Garcia.
Department of Justice attorneys argue there are no conditions of release that will protect the public.
Maryland Sen. Van Hollen outspoken on Abrego Garcia
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who's a Democrat, took center stage in the case earlier this year when he visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador after the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia there despite a court order prohibiting his removal to that country.
Abrego Garcia is from El Salvador but said he was fleeing gang violence. He had been living in Maryland illegally for several years.
Van Hollen weighed in this week at Baltimore City Hall.
"Everybody who lives in America under our constitution is entitled to due process," Van Hollen said. "They cannot have their liberty taken away by the government without due process of law."
Van Hollen continued, "So, he is now back here in the court system, as many of us argued he should have been from the very beginning. Judge Xinis had a hearing where she was very clear that the Trump administration needs to be straight with the court. There have been people who have been fired by the Trump Justice Department because they would not lie to the court."
The senator added, "I'm very glad Judge Xinis is trying to hold the administration's feet to the fire in the sense that she is trying to make sure that they uphold the law. That has been our goal all along."
