Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers ask judge to delay release from jail over deportation fears
Kilmar Abrego Garcias lawyers ask judge to delay release from jail over deportation fears
The Associated Press
July 21, 2025, 10:39 AM
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia have asked a federal judge in Tennessee to delay releasing him from jail in order to prevent the Trump administration from trying to swiftly deport the Maryland construction worker.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. in Nashville is expected to rule soon on whether to free Abrego Garcia while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges. If the Salvadoran national is released, U.S. officials have said he would be immediately detained by immigration authorities and targeted for deportation.
Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Donald Trumps immigration policies when he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That expulsion violated a U.S. immigration judges order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.
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