Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released Friday from the Putnam County Jail in Tennessee and is on his way to Maryland, his attorneys confirmed. His release comes as legal proceedings continue over federal criminal charges brought by the Trump administration tied to human smuggling.
Abrego Garcia came from El Salvador, entering the U.S. illegally at 16 years old to flee gang threats. In 2019, he was granted withholding of removal, which allowed him to live and work legally.
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Abrego Garcia released from Tennessee jail
Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, where he was held at CECOT, a high-security prison, and was later moved to another facility. Following a court order, Trump administration officials returned him to the U.S. in June.
His attorney, Sean Hecker, gave a statement to WUSA9 saying, “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. He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process.”
Court orders and conditions of release
A federal judge ordered his release by 5 p.m. Friday, placing him in the care of his brother. His travel to Maryland will be coordinated by his attorneys, and he must check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement there by Aug. 25.
Abrego Garcia will be under electronic monitoring and must follow all conditions of his pretrial release. He could face another deportation attempt. ICE has said it plans to quickly detain him and start removal proceedings to a third country once he is out of U.S. Marshals’ custody.
If he ends up in ICE custody, court documents say he must agree to return to the district for court proceedings and will have full access to his lawyers to prepare for trial.
Last month, a federal judge in Maryland blocked any immediate re-arrest, requiring that he remain under the same supervision conditions he had before his March deportation and mandating at least 72 hours’ notice before ICE can take further action.
Allegations in the federal case
Abrego Garcia’s legal team contends the government’s actions are retaliatory, targeting him for pursuing civil claims over his wrongful deportation. They say authorities built their criminal case using a repeat smuggler as a key witness.
He has remained in federal pretrial detention as authorities investigate his alleged role in smuggling immigrants into the U.S. A Department of Homeland Security report says he was pulled over for speeding on Dec. 1, 2022, with eight passengers in his car, sparking human trafficking concerns. The report also flagged him as a suspected MS-13 member, based on information from an unnamed source. Judges reviewing the case have expressed skepticism, noting there is no evidence of tattoos, gang markings or verified connections to MS-13.
Prosecutors say the vehicle may have traveled from Texas to Maryland, though Abrego Garcia maintains he was transporting construction workers and denies any connection to organized smuggling.
Abrego Garcia is scheduled to stand trial on federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee in January. His attorneys say the timeline gives them the opportunity to fully prepare a defense while ensuring he remains under pretrial supervision.
Whistleblower raises concerns over DOJ conduct
Erez Reuveni, a former acting deputy director for the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation, filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that DOJ and White House officials sought to misrepresent facts in court to advance deportation efforts. Reuveni claims he discovered plans to resist court orders that would have blocked potentially unlawful deportations, including the case of Abrego Garcia. White House officials have dismissed Reuveni’s complaint as one from a “disgruntled employee” who aimed to derail a judicial appointment.
According to the complaint, Reuveni informed a federal judge that Abrego Garcia’s removal from the U.S. had been a mistake. He later refused orders from superiors to submit a brief misrepresenting the facts, which led to him being placed on administrative leave and eventually terminated.
The complaint asserts that high-level officials knowingly defied court orders, directed attorneys to mislead the courts and withheld relevant information to prioritize deportation goals. Reuveni says he was publicly disparaged by White House officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Trump, for truthfully representing Abrego Garcia’s case.
