Demonstrators gather to protest against the deportation of immigrants to El Salvador on Apr. 24, 2025, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
In the filing, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers clarified they are not seeking to litigate his Tennessee criminal case — a separate matter from the civil case Xinis handled earlier this year, when she ordered Abrego Garcia's return from El Salvador after he was deported in March in what Trump officials called an administrative error.
Abrego Garcia's March deportation kicked off a months-long court fight to secure his release and return to U.S. soil, despite both a federal court order and a Supreme Court ruling requiring the administration to "facilitate" his return. The government eventually complied after months of delay and threats from a federal judge in Maryland to pursue potential contempt proceedings.
Upon return, he was immediately taken into custody for alleged federal crimes stemming from a 2022 traffic stop — prompting a flurry of questions as to when the investigation and impaneling of a grand jury, which indicted him on May 21, 2025, would have taken place.
TRUMP'S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia at an undisclosed location in El Salvador. (Sen. Van Hollen's Office via Getty Images)
Abrego Garcia's lawyers asked Xinis earlier this month impose sanctions on the Trump administration for what they argued were the administration’s "egregious" and "repeated violations" of discovery obligations in the civil case, urging the court to compel the Trump administration to comply with production of information requests, which they say the administration has improperly withheld, as well as to "investigate the extent of the government's willful noncompliance."
Meanwhile, lawyers for the Trump administration urged the court to dismiss the civil case, arguing it is now moot since Abrego Garcia is back on U.S. soil.
Xinis has yet to rule on either motion. Still, his months long court fight in Maryland, and now Tennesee, have become a national flashpoint in the broader fight over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies in his second White House term.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Trump administration has repeatedly vowed that Abrego Garcia would be taken into ICE detention, should he be released from federal custody in Tennessee. This fact was stressed Thursday by Abrego Garcia's legal team as they urged Xinis Thursday to take urgent action to keep him in the U.S., and in the District of Maryland.
"If this Court does not act swiftly, then the Government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland," lawyers said in their emergency filing.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abrego-garcia-lawyers-ask-us-judge-order-return-maryland-amid-ongoing-criminal-case