Image Credit: Tennessee Highway Patrol via The Center Square / YouTube
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who made national news as mainstream media outlets incorrectly labeled him a “wrongly deported Maryland man”, was returned to the U.S. from a maximum-security prison in his home country to face charges of human smuggling and other crimes, but a federal magistrate has denied the U.S. government’s petition to keep Garcia detained until his trial date.
The suspected MS-13 gang member was indicted by a Tennessee grand jury in late May, which found that Abrego Garcia “knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens” for profit over the past nine years. The indictment included charges of “unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain” and “conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain”
The criminal charges stem from a video of a 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County by the Tennessee Highway Patrol allegedly showing the smuggling, though Garcia was not charged at the time of the incident.
Upon his return to the U.S., federal prosecutors in Nashville requested Garcia remain in federal custody until his trial as the Justice Department believes him to be a flight risk and danger to the community should he be released. They argued that Garcia would have an “enormous reason to flee” and that there is a “serious risk” that Garcia or “persons acting on his behalf will obstruct justice and/or intimidate the witnesses against him.”
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes denied the government’s petition over the weekend, writing, “due process demands that every person charged with a federal crime be afforded a presumption of innocence unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and that deprivation of an individual’s liberty prior to trial can occur only in carefully limited circumstances with all the procedural safeguards afforded by the Bail Reform Act. Abrego, like every person arrested on federal criminal charges, is entitled to a full and fair determination of whether he must remain in federal custody pending trial. The Court will give Abrego the due process that he is guaranteed.”
Holmes set a June 25 hearing to review the conditions for Garcia’s release, though prosecutors filed an appeal of Holmes’ ruling the same day it was issued. And, at Garcia’s June 13 detention hearing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that should Garcia be released he will likely be immediately taken back into custody by the agency and could be deported before standing trial.
On Monday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Abrego Garcia “will never go free on American soil.” In her ruling, Holmes also admitted her decision was, “little more than an academic exercise,” as ICE will probably detain Garcia, but stands by it nonetheless, as she believes the government did not provide enough evidence that Garcia poses a danger to others.
Conservatives have not taken kindly to the ruling, and many have called on ICE to follow through on their stated intent to detain Garcia if he is released and further seem to concur with the Justice Department’s assessment that Garcia could be a flight risk and danger to the community.
Radio host Matt Murphy called the ruling “garbage” which “Needs to be appealed if possible”, while commentator Insurrection Barbie posted, “A traffic court judge just let Kilmar Abrego Garcia out of prison pending trial. Again speechless.”
Congressman Andy Ogles seemed to sum up the prevailing conservative sentiments about the matter, writing on X, “Only a left-wing activist judge would believe a wife-beating, alleged human smuggler isn’t a danger to society. Abrego Garcia should be rotting in a cell- not roaming free in Tennessee. Judge Holmes just handed MS-13 a gift with this disgraceful ruling.”
There is no update available on the status of the federal appeal at the time of this writing and the detention hearing is currently still scheduled for Wednesday, June 25. Garcia has pleaded “not guilty” to all charges and no trial date has yet been set.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
