Suspected Human Smuggler Kilmar Abrego Garcia Will Stay Behind Bars, Judge Says

A federal judge in Tennessee ordered suspected human smuggler and illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia to stay in prison while his case continues to play out in court.

Federal Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes ordered Monday that Abrego Garcia remain in the custody of U.S. Marshals after his lawyers expressed fear that he may be deported before his criminal case concludes. She previously ruled that he should be released from custody while his trial plays out, claiming the Justice Department failed to demonstrate justification for his remaining in custody.

“Abrego shall therefore remain in the custody of the United States Marshal pending further order. He shall, to the extent practicable, be held separately from persons awaiting or serving sentences or being held in custody pending appeal and he shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity for private consultation with defense counsel,” Holmes wrote Monday.

Abrego Garcia’s legal team moved to keep him detained after a Justice Department official indicated that the suspected human smuggler would be taken into ICE custody and removal proceedings begun if he was released by U.S. Marshals.

The illegal alien, who has been incorrectly dubbed a “Maryland man” by the legacy media, faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and up to 10 years in prison for each illegal smuggled across the country if found guilty on another count of unlawful transportation of illegal aliens. He was returned to the United States last week after being deported to El Salvador due to suspected ties to MS-13.

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Earlier this month, the Justice Department argued in Nashville that Abrego Garcia should be detained because he was a flight risk and would endanger the community based on testimony and evidence that he had endangered children through his alleged participation in a smuggling ring, ties to violent gangs, and the multiple complaints from his wife about domestic violence.

The Department of Homeland Security has remained firm in its position that Abrego Garcia will not go free, issuing a swift response to the judge who ordered his release. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asserted last week that “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien” who “will never go free on American soil.”