The court arguments over Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia are being heard in two federal courtrooms — one in Maryland, where he is suing the U.S. government.
The second of the two is taking place in Tennessee, where a judge has prohibited U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from immediately deporting Abrego Gracia if he’s released from jail while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges.
Thursday, lawyers for Abrego Garcia filed a motion in Tennessee, saying out-of-court statements from high-ranking members of the administration are jeopardizing their client’s right to a fair trial.
Earlier this week, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in Tennessee asked the judge to block the Trump administration from making extrajudicial statements.
Last Friday, at a news conference in Tennessee, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem listed allegations against Abrego Garcia saying, “He’s a horrible human being and a monster, and should never be released free.”
On Wednesday, a Tennessee judge affirmed Abrego Garcia is eligible for pretrial release, and Maryland federal judge Paula Xinis issued a ruling that prohibited the Trump administration from taking Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he’s released in Tennessee.
In Thursday’s motion, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said the official DHS account on X called the Tennessee court’s ruling “lawless.”
And, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin criticized Xinis’s ruling on X: “The fact this unhinged judge is trying to tell ICE they can’t arrest an MS-13 gang member, indicted by a grand jury for human trafficking and subject to immigration arrest under federal law is LAWLESS AND INSANE.'”
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers wrote, “The government has persisted in its efforts to use press statements outside of court to persuade the public of its allegation that Mr. Abrego is a member of MS-13 — an allegation the Court described, just yesterday, as ‘border[ing] on the fanciful.'”
“These repeated public statements are likely to taint the jury pool,” according to Abrego Garcia’s attorneys. “They are likely to endanger Mr. Abrego and his family.”
The motion requests the Tennessee judge clarify that rules about out-of-court statements apply to DHS employees involved in the investigation of Abrego Garcia, as well as supervisors, in addition to Justice Department officials.
Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over Trump’s immigration policies following his wrongful expulsion to El Salvador in March. The Trump administration violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.
The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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