The Trump administration and Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys agreed on July 20 that the illegal immigrant will remain in custody for a 30-day period even if a judge orders his release.
Attorneys for the Salvadoran citizen told a federal court in Tennessee that they were concerned about the federal government’s stated plan to remove him to a third country after or even before criminal proceedings conclude. The government has said it removes illegal immigrants to third countries to which they have no connection if their country of citizenship won’t accept them.
Abrego Garcia is currently in federal custody in Tennessee, but attorneys for both sides reportedly said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously said it would probably take him into custody if he is released before his scheduled criminal trial on Jan. 27, 2026.
The new agreement between lawyers for the two sides means Abrego Garcia’s possible removal from the United States will be delayed to give him time to consider his legal options.
Abrego Garcia is now facing trial on human smuggling charges arising from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. The government also alleges that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, a transnational criminal gang. He denies both the charges and gang membership.
A federal magistrate judge, who has limited authority to make certain kinds of orders, ordered Abrego Garcia released in June, but the Justice Department objected. Tennessee-based federal District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. has yet to rule on the government’s request to revoke the release order.
In a motion filed on July 20, Abrego Garcia’s attorney Sean Hecker said the Justice Department has agreed to temporarily pause the government’s plan to remove him from the United States, possibly before the trial concludes.
Hecker told Crenshaw that the government previously said that if its revocation motion were denied, DHS would take his client into custody. DHS would then go ahead with removal proceedings.
However, Hecker said both sides now agree that if the revocation motion is denied, Abrego Garcia’s release should be delayed for 30 days “to allow Mr. Abrego to evaluate his options and determine whether additional [legal] relief is necessary.”
“The government does not object to this request, and such a short delay will not affect the parties’ ability to confer regarding a proposed scheduling order or to prepare for trial,” Hecker said.
The federal government deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador on March 15, a move that prompted protests across the United States. He was held at a maximum security prison in El Salvador. He was returned to the United States in June.
The government acknowledged that Abrego Garcia was subject to a removal withholding order, that there was an “administrative error” in his deportation, and therefore, that his removal to El Salvador was “illegal,” the Supreme Court said in an April 10 opinion.
In the ruling, the high court directed the government to follow Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s April 4 order that it “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador. The justices ordered the government to process his case upon his return to the United States, the way it would have been done had he not been deported.
Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States on June 6.
This article by Matthew Vadum appeared July 21, 2025, in The Epoch Times.