Returned deportee Abrego Garcia to be released US judge, but faces immigration custody | World News

A US judge on Wednesday said she would order the pre-trial release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant who was makenly deported to El Salvador the US government but he will remain in federal custody at least for a few more days, as the judge noted that Garcia would be taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody as he still faces criminal migrant smuggling charges.
Nashville-based US Magrate Judge Barbara Holmes said on Wednesday that she will pass an order that Garcia should not be detained while he awaits trial for human smuggling charges. The order is expected to come Friday.
Judge Holmes also ordered Garcia’s lawyers to file an additional brief to express their concerns in order to know the extent in which the Department of Justice has any control over the Department of Homeland Security in Garcia’s case. The brief Garcia’s lawyers should be filed Thursday noon.
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Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was makenly deported to El Salvador, right, stands with supporters during a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, FIle)
Abrego Garcia faces criminal charges under the Department of Justice (DOJ) and an immigration custody under ICE. The DOJ is poised to respond over the matter Friday noon. Garcia, a Salvadoran national, had been living in Maryland with his US citizen wife and a son. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

US prosecutors said that if Abrego Garcia is released from criminal custody pending trial then he would be placed into immigration custody and possibly deported. Garcia’s lawyer Sean Hecker told Judge Holmes that since prosecutors had granted witnesses against Abrego relief from possible deportation, it should be able to do the same with him.

“The government has ensured witness cooperation ensuring that people will not be deported,” Hecker said, reported Reuters.
Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March despite a 2019 court order barring such a move on the grounds that he could face persecution gangs in his home country.