Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers told a federal judge Wednesday that he deserves to be set free in the U.S. after the suffering he endured when the Trump administration illegally deported him to a Salvadoran prison.
The request came as Mr. Abrego Garcia now faces major criminal accusations, including that he was part of a dangerous smuggling operation that brought hundreds of unauthorized immigrants into the U.S., and that he also smuggled drugs and guns and solicited nude photos of a minor.
But he is only charged, at this point, with the smuggling, which his lawyers said does not, on its own, rise to the level of pretrial detention.
“The government isn’t even entitled to a detention hearing in this case — much less detention. Mr. Abrego Garcia should be released,” the public defender said in filings with the federal court in Tennessee, where he is accused of making one of his smuggling trips.
The lawyers said he has no felony convictions on his record, doesn’t have a history of evading arrest and doesn’t have strong ties to a foreign country — though he is in the U.S. illegally and is a Salvadoran citizen, which is why the government was holding him in prison until the Trump administration asked for his return to face the new charges.
Mr. Abrego Garcia was deported on March 15 as part of the three controversial planeloads of migrants sent to El Salvador. Most of those were Venezuelans deported under the Alien Enemies Act, though several dozen were Salvadorans accused of being MS-13 members.
SEE ALSO: Abrego Garcia’s lawyers demand judge punish Trump admin for ‘defiance’
Even if he wins his case before the Tennessee judge, the government has said it plans to hold him in immigration custody. That’s a different authority than being held in the criminal system, though practically the effect would be the same.
But Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said his argument against being deported has, if anything, grown stronger after his previous deportation, which the lawyers said illegally sent him to a Salvadoran prison.
“Thus it appears he may now have a new basis … to seek additional protection against deportation to El Salvador,” the lawyers argued.
Before the criminal charges, the Trump team had insisted Mr. Abrego Garcia would never set foot in the U.S. again and said if for some reason he was brought back, then he could be immediately deported because he is a member of MS-13.
His lawyers, both in the criminal case and in the separate court case in Maryland over his deportation, have denied that.
Jonathan Cooper, the lead lawyer in the Maryland case, echoed the public defenders’ arguments about government duplicity in his own filing with Judge Paula Xinis on Wednesday.
He said the fact that the government was working secretly to charge and extradite Mr. Abrego Garcia, all while telling Judge Xinis he couldn’t be brought back, was more evidence of stonewalling the court.
He asked the judge to find the government in contempt of court and to impose fines.
“The government’s defiance has not been subtle. It has been vocal and sustained and flagrant. The defendants’ defiance of judicial orders has been accompanied by misrepresentations, stonewalling and even questioning of this court’s authority,” Mr. Cooper said.
His return came after weeks of the Trump administration insisting he would never set foot in the U.S. again, despite Judge Xinis’ demand that he be returned.
Government lawyers argued Judge Xinis was trampling on tricky foreign policy matters with her prodding.
The judge has repeatedly found the government to be procrastinating on following on her orders.
The Justice Department, in its own filing Tuesday, asked Judge Xinis to dissolve her injunction and put the case on hold, saying now that Mr. Abrego Garcia is back in the U.S. — albeit in jail in another state — they have fulfilled the court’s orders.
“Defendants have done exactly what plaintiffs asked for and what this court ordered them to do: Plaintiff Abrego Garcia has been returned to the United States,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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