NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia walked out of a Tennessee jail Friday and is on his way back to Maryland after a judge issued a new release order on the same day his 30-day stay on release was set to expire.
Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes filed her order releasing Abrego Garcia pending trial, allowing him to return to his family while awaiting human smuggling charges in Nashville.
Abrego Garcia's attorney Sean Hecker sent a statement this afternoon declaring that Abrego Garcia was free.
"He is presently en route to his family in Maryland, after being unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government's vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the Administration's continuing assault on the rule of law," Hecker said."He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process."
Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop where troopers suspected he was speeding while driving an SUV with nine other Hispanic men. Body camera footage captured troopers suggesting that Abrego Garcia was transporting undocumented people across state lines for money.
Holmes had already prepared to release Abrego Garcia last month after determining that he did not pose a flight risk or threaten public safety.
"Overall, the strength of the factors weighing in favor of release outweighs all other factors in favor of detention, which compels Abrego Garcia's release, particularly given the clear default under the law that persons who have not yet been convicted of a crime should be released pending trial," Holmes said.
This was despite the Trump administration's best efforts in characterizing Abrego Garcia as a dangerous member of the MS-13 gang who smuggled undocumented people through Tennessee.
DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin emphasized that "the defendant has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again."
Days later, a Justice Department official explained that Abrego Garcia would most likely be removed to a country other than his native El Salvador.
30-day stay granted over deportation fears
Defense attorneys asked, and Holmes granted a 30-day stay on Abrego Garcia's release in case ICE tried to deport him the moment he was no longer in custody.
That 30-day stay ended Friday.
Conditions of Abrego Garcia's release include electronic monitoring and restricting his travel in Baltimore to his brother's home, work, travel for emergencies, and back to Nashville for court.
Those conditions are no different in the new release order, but this week, defense attorneys also requested certain protections they hoped would keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement from interfering with Abrego Garcia's release.
Attorneys said they had already arranged for a private security company to transport Abrego Garcia to Maryland, but on the off chance that ICE intercepts their client, they want assurances that they can still reach Abrego Garcia in person or over the phone.
Abrego Garcia is required to report to pretrial services for the District of Maryland by no later than 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland, where Abrego Garcia is suing the Trump administration for his wrongful deportation, has already ruled that ICE cannot immediately deport him once he's released from Tennessee.
That protection, however, only keeps Abrego Garcia from immediate deportation. It doesn't mean ICE can't detain him in Baltimore, present the case to an immigration judge, and then move forward with deportation proceedings.
Abrego Garcia, who entered the country illegally in 2011, was deported in March and sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, despite a 2019 court order barring his return to the country where he claimed he feared persecution from neighborhood gangs.
He was brought back to the U.S. in March after the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return.
Abrego Garcia walked off a plane and into a Tennessee jail, where he faced human smuggling charges that some argued were politically motivated.
The two-count indictment unsealed the moment Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S., accused him of being a part of a conspiracy "to bring undocumented aliens to the United States from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and elsewhere, ultimately passing through Mexico before they cross into Texas."
The Trump administration has since threatened to deport Abrego Garcia and others to countries where they have no connection, like Mexico or South Sudan.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss charges against their client that they call "vindictive and selective prosecution."
Holmes says she will rule on that motion soon, but in the meantime, a trial date has been set for January in Nashville.
