GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — The Trump administration hasn’t decided where it would deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is freed from a Tennessee jail, but a U.S. immigration official said Thursday that Mexico and South Sudan could be willing to accept the El Salvador native.
Thomas Giles, an assistant director for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, testified in a Maryland federal court that ICE would detain Abrego Garcia as soon as he’s released to await trial on human smuggling charges.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is considering Abrego Garcia’s request to order the U.S. government to send him to Maryland instead, a bid aimed at preventing the Trump administration from trying to deport him again.
Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration policies when the Salvadoran national was wrongfully deported to his native country in March. Facing mounting pressure and a U.S. Supreme Court order, the administration returned him last month to face the smuggling charges.
The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without any luggage, prompting police to suspect human smuggling. However, he was allowed to drive on.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have called the charges “preposterous” and argue that deporting him will deprive him from defending himself at trial. Justice Department attorneys have countered that he’s a danger.
A federal judge in Tennessee could release Abrego Garcia as soon as next Wednesday. A four-hour court hearing in Maryland on Thursday focused on what ICE would do.
Sascha Rand, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, pressed Giles for information about any due process that Abrego Garcia might receive in the U.S. immigration court system. He also asked the ICE official how Abrego Garcia would be treated in a country such as Mexico or South Sudan.
“We’re not going to send people to a country where they’re going to get persecuted or tortured,” Giles said.
Rand asked Giles if Abrego Garcia was persecuted or tortured at the notorious Salvadoran megaprison the Trump administration sent him to in March.
“I don’t know,” Giles said.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers recently alleged in court documents that he was beaten and subjected to psychological torture at the facility. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele denied the allegations.
Rand also asked Giles if Abrego Garcia would be removed without any notice or procedures, to which Giles said “no.” The ICE official said Abrego Garcia could express a fear of going to the country he’s being sent to, which could trigger a review process.
Giles said he assumed someone would immediately have to express that fear.
“We’re talking about minutes or seconds here?” Rand asked.
The person can still get an interview if the fear is expressed before the plane takes off, Giles said. If a “credible fear” is determined, that person will be referred to an immigration judge for a final determination.
Xinis, the judge, briefly brought up the possibility of a 48-hour pause on any attempts to deport Abrego Garcia. However, no agreement was made.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, another attorney for Abrego Garcia, told reporters outside the Maryland courtroom that the government wouldn’t agree to a 48-hour pause. The hearing will resume Friday morning.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges in Tennessee. A federal judge in Nashville was preparing to release him, determining he was not a flight risk or a danger. But the judge has agreed to keep him behind bars over his legal team’s deportation concerns.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have asked that judge to delay his release until a July 16 court hearing in Nashville to consider a request by prosecutors to revoke Abrego Garcia’s release order while he awaits trial.
When the administration deported Abrego Garcia in March, it violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shielded Abrego Garcia from being sent to his native country. The immigration judge had determined that Abrego Garcia likely faced persecution by local gangs that had terrorized him and his family.
Abrego Garcia’s wife is suing the administration over his deportation in March and is trying to prevent him from being expelled again. Her lawsuit is being handled by Xinis, the judge in Maryland. Abrego Garcia lived and worked in the state for more than a decade, working construction and raising a family, before he was deported.
The administration claimed that it deported Abrego Garcia because was in the MS-13 gang, although Abrego Garcia wasn’t charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation.