Abrego Garcia set for pivotal hearing on whether he will remain in US pending trial

Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in federal court in Tennessee where a federal judge on Wednesday will hear an appeal from the Justice Department seeking to keep him detained in criminal custody pending trial The request to U S District Judge Waverly Crenshaw from the Justice Department caps off months of confusing and contradictory statements from the Trump administration in the circumstance of Abrego Garcia who was erroneously deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a court order and returned to the U S three months later in June The acting U S attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Robert McGuire urged Crenshaw in a new filing this week to keep Abrego Garcia detained in criminal custody pending trial arguing in a filing that there is no combination of bail conditions that can reasonably assure either the safety of the society or the defendant s appearance in future court proceedings ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS ASK US JUDGE TO ORDER RETURN TO MARYLAND AMID ONGOING CRIMINAL CASEBut even that filing highlights the Justice Department s conflicting statements about its plans for Abrego Garcia whose scenario is at the center of two high-profile hearings in Maryland and Tennessee After months of delay the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U S where he was promptly slapped with a newly unsealed federal indictment charging him with crimes stemming from a traffic stop in Tennessee Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to those charges and was ordered issued pending trial by U S Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes Holmes later amended her order to allow Abrego Garcia to be kept in federal custody at the request of his own legal unit His lawyers cited concerns that ICE would without delay take him into immigration custody and deport him to a third country upon his release Senior Justice Department executives and ICE leaders conceded to this plan last week telling U S District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland that the establishment would straightaway begin removal proceedings to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country regardless of the status of his criminal situation In doing so they broke with previous assertions from U S administrators including Attorney General Pam Bondi who vowed when he was returned that he would remain in U S custody for the duration of his trial and any prison time SUPREME COURT GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO LIFT STAY HALTING VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONSAsked by Judge Xinis last week whether the executive planned to hold Abrego Garcia in ICE custody until his criminal development in Tennessee is over lawyers for the administration did not mince their words No Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn answered totally There s no intention to just put him in limbo in ICE custody while we wait for the criminal scenario to unfold Guynn communicated Xinis He will be removed as would any other illegal alien in that process Abrego Garcia s second detention hearing in Tennessee comes after his legal squad questioned a federal judge in Maryland last week to impose sanctions on the Trump administration for the administration s egregious and repeated violations of discovery obligations according to the filing FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS RETURN OF DEPORTED MIGRANT TO US REJECTING TRUMP REQUESTXinis also pressed Justice Department leaders for details as to when they opened a federal study into Abrego Garcia in a separate district in Tennessee and how the timing of the probe and federal indictment squared with the government's testimony in her own court She noted that by the executive s own admission it began scrutinizing Abrego Garcia in the Middle District of Tennessee on April the same time agents were telling the court that the administration was powerless to order a foreign leadership to return him in compliance with the court order At the same time that the governing body was saying it had no power to produce Abrego Garcia in the U S Trump administration representatives had already secured an indictment against him in the Middle District of Tennessee right Xinis sought Justice Department lawyer Bridget O'Hickey Yes your honor O Hickey replied An incredulous Xinis noted that just six days later the authorities testified they had no power to bring him back to the U S Now I have real concerns as if I haven't for the last three months Xinis noted in response Given the series of unlawful actions here I feel like it s well within my authority to order this hearing perhaps more than one to hear testimony from at least one witness with firsthand knowledge who can answer these questions about the immediate next approaches from the cabinet pending Abrego Garca's release from custody she stated