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(NewsNation) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian national from Maryland who was mistakenly deported to his home country due to an administrative error, returned to federal court in Nashville on Wednesday for a hearing that outlined the conditions of his release, during which a judge ordered that he be released on his own recognizance.
However, while U.S. Magistrate Barbara Holmes denied the prosecution's request to keep Abrego Garcia in federal custody, she warned that it is likely he would not likely go free because of Immigration and Customs Enforcement having a detainer for the 29-year-old Maryland man, NewsNation affiliate WKRN reported.
During Wednesday's hearing, Holmes outlined the conditions of Abrego Garcia's release, but said that they only applied if he was also released from ICE custody as well as that of the U.S. Marshals. Among the conditions laid out by the judge were residency requirements, avoiding illegal drugs and ensuring that any of the locations or vehicles he uses are not linked to crimes. The judge also said that another condition of Abrego Garcia's release is that he consent to location monitoring.
Additionally, Holmes instructed Abrego Garcia not to have any contact with any known or suspected members of the MS-13 gang. Federal officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, have maintained that Abrego Garcia is a member of the gang that President Donald Trump has deemed a foreign terrorist organization.
Holmes warned that were Abrego Garcia were to violate any of the terms of his release, he would face imprisonment.
The Tennessean reported that while it remains unknown when ICE would detain Abrego Garcia, Homes encouraged ICE to work with federal prosecutors to keep him in the United States until his trial on federal smuggling charges begins.
An ICE spokesperson did not immediately respond to a NewsNation request for comment on the agency's plans regarding Abrego Garcia on Wednesday. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement Monday indicating that the federal agency’s stance on Abrego Garcia has not changed, adding, “He will never go free on American soil.”
The lead-up to Kilmar Abrego Garcia's court appearance
In delivering her 51-page order for Abrego Garcia's release on Sunday, Holmes concluded that determining that his detention issues represented “little more than an academic exercise.”
In a court filing on Tuesday, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Robert McGuire asked that a stay be granted on Holmes’ order for release. McGuire wrote that it is a widely accepted fact that if Abrego Garcia is released from U.S. Marshal’s custody, “he will not be released at liberty, but rather, into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
However, McGuire argued that releasing Abrego Garcia into ICE custody poses a “potentially irreparable problem” for the government and the public at large. Holmes, in her ruling, determined that the government did not present enough evidence that Abrego Garcia represents a flight risk or a threat to the public.
But McGuire said if a stay on Holmes’ release order is not ordered on Wednesday and Abrego Garcia is moved to ICE custody and deported, the government would lose the meaningful opportunity to try its case.
What happens if Kilmar Abrego Garcia is released?
Department of Homeland Security officials have not announced what their plans are if Abrego Garcia is released from federal custody. Abrego Garcia has remained in custody since June 6, when he was returned to the United States from El Salvador to face federal human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
Prosecutors have indicated that ICE plans to take Abrego Garcia into custody and begin possible deportation hearings immediately. However, Abrego Garcia’s defense attorneys have argued in a court filing that they believe it is unlikely that ICE will seek to deport Abrego Garcia, especially considering the wishes of the U.S. Justice Department, the Washington Post reported.
Wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, second from left, joins a rally outside the U.S. Courthouse in Greenbelt, Md. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)Ben Osorio, one of Abrego Garcia’s immigration attorneys, told NewsNation earlier this week that they had been asked not to comment publicly on the case.
However, Osorio told the Washington Post on Tuesday that the legal team was preparing for several options, including Abrego Garcia being deported to a country other than El Salvador. That became a possibility after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could begin deporting migrants to other places besides their home country.
Osorio did not immediately respond to NewsNation’s request for comment on Wednesday. Osorio told the Washington Post that one possibility existed that Abrego Garcia could file for asylum since his request would come within a year of his being returned to the United States.
Abrego Garcia is married to an American, who has pleaded for her husband to be returned to his family. Abrego Garcia was granted protective status from being sent back to El Salvador in 2019 when an immigration judge ruled that he could be in danger after fleeing his home country after being threatened by the Barrio 18 gang.
On Wednesday, Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said at a news conference that it is the couple's wedding anniversary and claimed that her husband had been "abducted" by the Trump administration.
"Instead of celebrating our love surrounded by family, I'm here, but not alone," Vasquez Sura said, according to the Tennessean.
Abrego Garcia faces two counts of unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain and a third count for conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty.
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