NASHVILLE, TN– Kelmar Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation helped galvanize opposition to President Donald Trump Immigration policiesHe will hold hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday in the human smuggling case filed against him in Tennessee.
US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw is scheduled to hear evidence related to defense requests asking him to drop the charges and cancel some evidence.
Here is what you should know about the latest developments in the case:
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child He lived in Maryland For years. He immigrated to the United States illegally as a teenager to join his brother, who had become an American citizen. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to his home country, where he faces the threat of a gang that targeted his family.
While he was allowed to live and work in the United States under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he was not granted residency status. Earlier this year, it was He was deported by mistake And held in An extremely brutal Salvadoran prison Although there is no criminal record.
Facing mounting public pressure and a court order, the Republican Trump administration She brought him back to the United States In June, but only after an arrest warrant was issued on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. I have He pleaded not guilty For those accusations, he asked Crenshaw to reject them.
Abrego Garcia is charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling, with prosecutors alleging he accepted money to transport people who were in the country illegally within the United States.
The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage From a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer showing a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed suspicions of smuggling among themselves. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.
A DHS agent testified at an earlier hearing that he did not begin investigating the traffic stop until afterward The US Supreme Court said In April, the Trump administration should act to reinstate Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia asked Crenshaw about this Smuggling charges dropped On the basis of “selective or retaliatory prosecution.”
In a recent ruling, Crenshaw found “some evidence that the prosecution against him may be retaliatory,” and said several statements made by Trump administration officials were “concerning.” Crenshaw specifically cited a statement made by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News show, that seemed to indicate that the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won. His illegal deportation case.
The two sides have been arguing over whether top Justice Department officials, including Blanche, could be asked to testify in the case.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, argued in court filings that it didn’t matter what members of the Trump administration said about Abrego Garcia.
“The prosecutorial decision-maker, the Acting U.S. Attorney, has formally made it clear that this prosecution is not being brought for retaliatory or discriminatory reasons,” McGuire wrote in a court filing. He adds that any public statements made by senior Trump administration officials about Abrego Garcia reflect public safety concerns that are “clearly consistent with a legitimate motive for prosecuting him.”
Another motion from Abrego Garcia asks the judge to suppress evidence in the case. It claims that the 2022 traffic stop that ultimately led to the smuggling charges was illegal, so evidence from that stop should not have been used at trial.
In support of this, court filings say the state trooper who stopped him stated the speed limit was 65 mph (105 kph) when it was actually 70 mph (113 kph). The officer accused him of driving at 75 mph (120 kilometers per hour), but there is no record that the officer used a radar or speed gun to measure speed. Abrego Garcia said he was driving 70 mph and was correctly indicating the speed limit.
Government lawyers say the soldier made an honest mistake. The speed limit drops to 65 mph about 2 miles (3.2 km) down the highway. The attorneys also noted that Abrego Garcia was driving in the left lane “consistent with a person traveling exceeding the posted speed limit.” They said that the policeman “had no reason or motive to commit a traffic violation against him.”
Abrego Garcia currently cannot be deported to El Salvador thanks to a 2019 settlement that found he had a “well-founded fear” of danger there. However, the Trump administration said he could not remain in the United States. Over the past two months, government officials have said they will deport him to the United States. Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana And recently, Liberia.
The deportation agreements concluded by the administration with the so-called Third countries It was challenged in court by advocacy groups, which noted that some migrants are being sent to countries with a long history of human rights abuses. But in June, it split supreme court It allowed rapid deportation of immigrants to countries other than their home country with minimal notification.
Abrego Garcia sued the Trump administration in a Maryland court over his previous deportation, and the judge in that case temporarily blocked his deportation. If the judge decides to overturn that order, government lawyers have said they are prepared to deport him immediately.
Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia has I applied for asylum In the United States in immigration court.