The federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s criminal case on smuggling charges has ordered his release from jail before trial, finding that prosecutors failed to show “any evidence” that his history or arguments against him warrant his ongoing detention.
That order arrived moments after another federal judge overseeing his wrongful deportation case blocked Donald Trump’s administration from immediately arresting and deporting him following his release from jail.
Federal prosecutors have sought to bring his criminal case to trial as soon as possible. But immigration officials had told the court they intend to arrest and deport him before a trial even begins.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set to begin January 27, 2026.
The judge referred conditions of his release to a magistrate judge overseeing the case.
The Trump administration spent weeks insisting Abrego Garcia would never be allowed back to the country after admitting he was wrongfully deported to a Salvadoran prison in March. Yet he was abruptly flown back to the United States last month to face a criminal indictment in Tennessee.
In recent court hearings in two different states, lawyers for the Department of Justice said they would only move forward with his criminal prosecution if he remains in custody while awaiting trial.
On Wednesday, Tennessee District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw said the government “fails to show by a preponderance of the evidence — let alone clear and convincing evidence — that Abrego is such a danger to others or the community that such concerns cannot be mitigated by conditions of release.”
“At bottom,” the judge wrote, “the Government fails to provide any evidence that there is something in Abrego’s history, or his exhibited characteristics, that warrants detention.”
Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis, meanwhile, has blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from immediately detaining Abrego Garcia, if he is released from federal custody.
She also ordered ICE to give him 72 hours’ notice if officials decide to deport Abrego Garcia to a so-called “third country,” or anywhere other than his native El Salvador.
The administration has “done little to assure the Court that absent intervention, Abrego Garcia’s due process rights will be protected,” she wrote.
This is a developing story
