Administration: Abrego Garcia Won't Be Freed Despite Order

A federal judge has issued a blistering ruling saying that the Trump administration failed to prove that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a flight risk or a danger to the community and so must not detained him before his smuggling trial. At the same time, US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes acknowledged that the government probably would keep Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, in immigration custody, the New York Times reports. Justice Department lawyers quickly confirmed that after the ruling on Sunday, per NBC News, saying in a filing that Abrego Garcia will be held until deportation and that the judge's ruling "would not immediately release him to the community under any circumstance."

Holmes heard testimony from a Homeland Security agent about the government's human smuggling investigation, which it began after admitting the deportation was a mistake. She said the agent portrayed the case as about trafficking immigrants, including minors, while evidence from the prosecutors indicated the accusations were related to routine smuggling. "To be clear, the offenses of which Abrego is charged are human smuggling, not human trafficking," Holmes wrote, adding that the terms aren't interchangeable. "The government alleges that Abrego is a longtime, well-known member of MS-13," Holmes wrote at another point, adding: "But Abrego has no reported criminal history of any kind. And his reputed gang membership is contradicted by the government's own evidence."

The government filed a motion to appeal Holmes' ruling, asking the judge to stay her order, per Axios. She scheduled a hearing for Wednesday and told the government to bring Abrego Garcia, who was imprisoned while in El Salvador before being indicted in the smuggling case in Tennessee. The White House press secretary has said he'll never be allowed to live in the US again. The government's resolve to detain him, in a matter outside her jurisdiction if necessary, Holmes wrote, "suggests the Court's determination of the detention issues is little more than an academic exercise." (More Kilmar Abrego Garcia stories.)