Kilmar Ábrego García’s lawyers have asked a federal judge in Tennessee to delay his release from custody in order to prevent the Trump administration from swiftly moving to deport the Maryland-based construction worker.
Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. in Nashville is expected to decide soon whether to release Ábrego García while he awaits trial on human-trafficking charges. If the Salvadoran national is released, U.S. authorities say he would be immediately detained by immigration officials for deportation.
Ábrego García became a focal point in the national debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies when he was erroneously deported to his homeland, El Salvador, in March. That expulsion violated a 2019 immigration court order protecting Ábrego García from being deported to El Salvador because he faces gang threats there.
The administration had claimed Ábrego García was a member of the MS-13 gang, though he has never been charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation. Facing growing pressure and a Supreme Court order, the Trump administration brought Ábrego García back to the United States last month to face human-trafficking charges, which his lawyers have described as “absurd.”
The human-trafficking case traces back to a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Ábrego García was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Tennessee police suspected human trafficking, but Ábrego García was allowed to continue driving.
Authorities say they intend to deport Ábrego García to a country other than El Salvador—such as Mexico or South Sudan—before his January trial because they argue he poses a danger to the community.
Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville ruled about a month ago that Ábrego García is eligible for release after finding he does not pose a flight risk or a danger. Ábrego García’s lawyers asked that he be kept in jail due to deportation concerns.
Holmes’s ruling is being reviewed by Crenshaw after prosecutors filed a motion to overturn her release order.
Ábrego García’s lawyers initially argued in favor of his release, but shifted their strategy in light of the government’s deportation plans. With Crenshaw’s decision imminent, Ábrego García’s lawyers filed Sunday night for a 30-day stay of any release order. The request would allow Ábrego García to “evaluate his options and determine whether further relief is necessary.”
Earlier this month, U.S. authorities outlined their plans to deport Ábrego García in a federal court in Maryland. There, Ábrego García’s American wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, is suing the Trump administration over his erroneous deportation in March and seeking to stave off another expulsion.
U.S. authorities have argued that Ábrego García can be deported because he entered the United States illegally around 2011 and because an immigration judge found him eligible for removal in 2019, though not to his home country of El Salvador.
Following the 2019 immigration judge’s ruling, Ábrego García was released under federal supervision, received a federal work permit, and appeared before ICE annually, according to his lawyers. But federal authorities recently stated in court filings that they revoked his supervised release.
Ábrego García’s Maryland attorneys have asked Judge Paula Xinis to order the federal government to transfer Ábrego García to Maryland to await his trial, a move aimed at preventing deportation.
They also urged Xinis to issue at least a 72-hour hold to prevent immediate deportation if he is released from the Tennessee jail. Xinis has not ruled on any of the requests.
