Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran illegal migrant who was deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout (Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via REUTERS)
The request came after Justice Department officials conceded at a hearing earlier this week that Abrego Garcia could be removed from the U.S. as soon as July 16 — nine days from today, when a federal judge in Tennessee will consider whether he should be freed and transferred to DHS custody.
Abrego Garcia, currently held by U.S. Marshals in Tennessee, was returned from El Salvador in June — three months after his deportation and weeks after the Supreme Court backed Xinis’s order to facilitate his return.
Upon arrival, Abrego was immediately slapped with federal charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. Justice Department officials acknowledged in court this week that they plan to immediately take him into ICE custody as early as this month and deport him to a third country — regardless of the status of his criminal case.
Xinis, who is handling his civil case, grilled Trump administration lawyers for details Monday as to when they opened a federal investigation into Abrego Garcia in the U.S. Middle District of Tennessee — and how the timing of the investigation and federal indictment squared with the government's testimony in her own court.
SCOTUS DENIES FLORIDA AG REQUEST TO ENFORCE CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION LAW
This still from video from July 22, 2015 show Paula Xinis from US Senate Judiciary Committee (US Senate Judiciary Committee)
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"There’s no intention to just put him in limbo in ICE custody while we wait for the criminal case to unfold," Guynn told Xinis. "He will be removed, as would any other illegal alien in that process."
"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 steps" from the government pending Abrego Garca's release from custody, Xinis said.
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/federal-judge-hear-from-ice-its-plans-abrego-garcia-pending-release-from-custody