Federal prosecutors in Nashville ask judge to keep Abrego Garcia detained until trial
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security officer stood watch at the rear of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building as Kilmar Abrego Garcia was brought to Tennessee on criminal charges. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Federal prosecutors on Monday detailed legal arguments for the detention until trial of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man mistakenly deported by the Trump administration.
Abrego Garcia was returned to Nashville from El Salvador on Friday to face two criminal human smuggling charges tied to a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop.
He appeared briefly in a downtown Nashville courtroom late Friday, and is scheduled to return to court this Friday for a formal arraignment of the charges against him.
That hearing will also consider a motion by the Justice Department to keep Abrego Garcia in custody until the date of his trial, which has not yet been set.
A federal grand jury indictment issued under seal May 21 and made public June 6 charges Abrego Garcia with 'conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain' and 'unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.'
Wrongly deported Maryland man Abrego Garcia returned to U.S.
Abrego Garcia 'knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens' for profit between 2016 and 2025 as a member of the MS-13 gang, prosecutors said.
Dumaka Shabazz, a federal public defender appointed to represent Garcia in the criminal case, declined comment on the charges Monday.
'At this date, we are not inclined to give a statement,' Shabazz said via email.
The criminal charges stem from a November 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, court records show.
Abrego Garcia was driving an SUV with nine Hispanic men when he was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 40 in Putnam County, about 80 miles east of Nashville, court records said. He was not charged in the incident.
Prosecutors now allege that further investigation revealed the stop involved Abrego Garcia smuggling migrants within the United States illegally.
Abrego Garcia faces a potentially lengthy sentence: a maximum of 10 years in prison for each person he allegedly transported.
'A stain on the Constitution': Abrego Garcia lawyers refuse to drop his case against U.S.
A resident of Maryland until a prior traffic stop on March 12 this year, Abrego Garcia was dispatched within days to an El Salvador prison along with scores of other detainees.
An immigrant from El Salvador, Abrego Garcia had received an immigration court order in 2019 that allowed him to reside in the United States and specifically barred the federal government from deporting him to El Salvador, where, he said, he feared gang violence.
The prosecutors' memo seeking Abrego Garcia's detention until trial, filed in federal court Monday, alleges there is a 'serious risk' that Abrego Garcia 'and/or persons acting on his behalf will obstruct justice and/or intimidate the witnesses against him' should he be released from federal custody pending his trial.
They also argued Abrego Garcia is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
In their memo, prosecutors said they plan to raise allegations that children without legal immigration status were transported and 'used in unsafe ways' to avoid detection of Abrego Garcia's illegal smuggling activities.
Abrego Garcia has not been charged with crimes involving the illegal transport of children.
Prosecutors also acknowledged that, should Abrego Garcia be released pending trial, he would likely be immediately taken into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to face further proceedings in immigration court.
Nevertheless, they argued that should he not be taken into ICE custody, Abrego Garcia would have an 'enormous reason to flee.'
U.S. Magistrate Barbara Holmes, who presided over Friday's brief hearing, has given Abrego's attorneys until Wednesday to file a legal response.
Supplemental-Memorandum-in-Support-of-Governments-Motion-for-Detention
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Judge: Arrests could result from plan to end homelessness in downtown Atlanta before World Cup
ATLANTA - A controversial plan to remove homeless people from downtown Atlanta before the 2026 FIFA World Cup could lead to some arrests "solely to make the city look nice," according to a Fulton County judge. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who co-chairs a justice board that seeks alternatives to incarceration in metro Atlanta, said he's concerned the city's plan to end homelessness in downtown and house hundreds of people by next summer could prompt encounters between police and unsheltered people, leading to arrests. Any increase in the local jail population shouldconcern "everyone in the criminal justice system," because it would tax resources and expose people to an unhealthy, unsafe environment,McBurney told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As Atlanta prepares for the World Cup and the international attention it will bring, the city's sizable homeless population has emerged as a flash point. Some advocates worry that officials will turn to arrests to clear the streets, with some of the city's homeless ending up in the troubled Fulton County Jail. Partners for HOME, the nonprofit that implements the city of Atlanta's homeless strategy, is leading the effort, known as "Downtown Rising." The initiative is part of a $212 million campaign called "Atlanta Rising" to end unsheltered homelessness in the city. Mayor Andre Dickens said at a news conference on summer safety on Wednesday that his administration has been working to make housing available since long before anyone knew Atlanta would be hosting World Cup matches. He added that encampments under bridges are unsafe and won't be tolerated. "We want to make sure those unsheltered individuals don't come anywhere downtown, and throughout the city of Atlanta, not just during the World Cup, but now," he said. Asked how the city will handle enforcement, Dickens said police would take people who violate city ordinancesto the pre-arrest diversion center, which offers treatment and other services to people who are homeless or have substance use or mental health issues, allowing them to avoid arrest. "If you break the law, we have measures to deal with that like any other lawbreaker," Dickens added. Not focused on arrests Partners for HOME Chief Executive Cathryn Vassell said their plan calls for housing 400 people who are sleeping outdoors in downtownby the end of 2025 and offering them the services they need - not to arrest them if they don't want what is offered. Atlanta Police Maj. Jeff Cantin also said he doesn't envision Downtown Rising resulting in arrests "unless there's something really egregious." "We are not trying to prosecute people for being homeless," said Cantin, who oversees the department's Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement team, known as HOPE. "We're trying to get them the help they need." But racial justice advocate Michael Collins objects to the involvement of entities like the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and the Metro Atlanta Chamber in the Downtown Rising strategy. "A bunch of downtown businesspeople have gotten together and decided that in order for the World Cup to be economically successful to them, they need to eradicate homelessness from the area, even if this means lots of low-income, Black and brown people end up going to the county jail - a death trap that has been deemed unconstitutional," said Collins, senior director of the organization Color of Change. In an investigative report, the U.S. Department of Justice found conditions at the Fulton County Jail "abhorrent" and "unconstitutional." The report is replete with examples of how people have been harmed by the horrific conditions, rampant violence, indifferent supervision and poor medical care. After the report was released, the DOJ and Fulton County reached a legally binding consent decree. Marcus Mister, a vice president of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, said the organization added an outreach team in 2020 and is focused on helping refer homeless people to also has an ambassador force supported by off-duty police officers. Mister said the organization's approach toward homeless people has gradually become more empathetic. "That has really required some retraining of our ambassador force," he said. However, if homeless people resist efforts to close downtown to outdoor sleeping, he said, "Then it's whatever ordinance is on the book to enforce." 'This is what I know' Officials in Fulton County in recent weeks have complained publicly that police officers in the city of Atlanta and across Fulton County are taking too many people to jail on minor charges like trespassing, instead of bringing them to the new diversion centerin downtown Atlanta. McBurney said the diversion center could connect people to housing resources but that people can only stay there for up to 23 hours. He added that any effort to relocate dozens of people - who consider their homes to be a tent on sidewalk in downtown - "can be the emotional trigger, the mental health trigger that causes them to do something that gets them locked up," like taking a swing at an officer. "If history is a guide, there would be a significant number of people who are not interested in moving," he said. Twenty-four people declined offers of permanent supportive housing and seven refused shelter during Downtown Rising's first encampment closure, which took place last month on Pryor Street under the Interstate 20 overpass in downtown Atlanta, according to Vassel of Partners for HOME. Another 49 people from the Pryor Street camp moved into housing, 27 moved into shelters, and 74 others were "referred to housing," Vassell said. Some relocated to the Cooper Street area in the nearby Mechanicsville neighborhood - where the city shut down a large encampment last year, Vassel said. Officials said no one was arrested during the Pryor Street encampment's closure. "Most people who are declining (offers of housing) have very complex challenges, whether they're severely mentally ill and can't make a good decision for themselves or aren't lucid enough," Vassell said. Chukey Carter, 42, said he was living at the Pryor Street camp for several months earlier this year. He said he ended up in Atlanta accidentally after he fell asleep on a bus on New Year's Eve and missed his stop in Columbia, South Carolina. He said he recently received an apartment with a one-year lease that doesn't require him to pay rent or utilities. But he said a lot of homeless people will refuse to leave downtown if the city tries to relocate them. They will say: "'I'm going to still stay out here. This is what I know.'" Mandy Chapman Semple, managing partner of Clutch Consulting, which is working with Partners for Home to develop the Downtown Rising plan, said it often takes several offers of housing and services to convince a homeless person to accept them because many are skeptical. For those who don't accept help, Chapman Semple said outreach workers will continue to encourage them to go to shelters. A Partners for Home map shows several "outreach" zones, including at least 10 encampments near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the city will host eight World Cupmatches, including a semifinal game on July 15, 2026. "We are not going to a zone and closing it until we know we have sufficient housing to offer to everybody in that particular geography," Vassell said. Robb Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, said he has not been briefed on the Downtown Rising plan but believes it is possible to house 400 people. Providing homes to people sleeping near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, he said, would be "the best of all worlds." "But in the absence of that, I think they will probably be able to relocate them on a temporary basis," Pitts said. "Now the question becomes: What happens after the World Cup if they come back to where they were?" --- (Staff writer Shaddi Abusaid contributed to this story.) --- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Newsom challenges JD Vance to debate after he calls Sen. Alex Padilla ‘Jose'
Gov. Gavin Newsom challenged Vice President JD Vance to a debate after Vance attacked the governor and maligned Sen. Alex Padilla, referring to him by 'Jose,' during a press conference in Los Angeles Friday. Vance, who was in the city to meet with federal officials after weeks of protests of immigration raids and detentions, repeatedly slammed Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during the press conference for their stances on immigration and pushback against the administration of President Donald Trump ordering the National Guard and U.S. Marines into the city. When asked about the Trump administration cracking down on Democrats, Vance referenced Padilla's detention in handcuffs last Thursday. 'I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question. But unfortunately I guess he decided to not show up because there wasn't the theater,' Vance said. 'It's pure political theater.' Padilla, who is California's first Hispanic senator, was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference last week after identifying himself as a senator asking a question — though she later claimed she did not know he was a senator — and was handcuffed before being released. 'JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate. Calling him 'Jose Padilla' is not an accident,' Newsom wrote. The Associated Press reported that Taylor Van Kirk, a JD Vance spokesperson, responded by saying of Vance: 'He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.' Newsom also posted to Vance that it was 'nice of you to finally make it out to California.' 'Since you're so eager to talk about me, how about saying it to my face? Let's debate. Time and place?' Newsom wrote. The governor's press office X account also responded Friday evening, posting an altered photo of Vance at the press conference with a cartoonish version of his face and saying: 'Donald, you should send @JDVance out to California more often. He's absolutely crushing it!' Vance claimed Newsom and Bass 'actively encouraged illegal migration into this community, have strained public services, have strained law enforcement and, really, have offered generous benefits, not to American citizens, but to illegal immigrants to break the law.' Vance also claimed Newsom and Bass 'egged on' violent 'rioters' including encouraging them to harm federal and local law enforcement, which he called 'disgraceful.' Vance said during the press conference that National Guard and military members will stay in the city in case protests 'flare back up.' 'These people need to be stopped,' Vance said of demonstrators. Staff writer Tara Duggan contributed reporting.
Miami Herald
15 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Immigration raid at LA-area car wash sparks tense scene, hours of protests in Bell
LOS ANGELES - Protesters gathered in southeast Los Angeles County on Friday evening, facing off with masked men in fatigues after federal agents detained at least three people at a car wash in the city of Bell, according to witnesses, and visited another car wash in neighboring Maywood. The immigration action in Bell took place at Jack's Car Wash and Detailing, located in the 7000 block of Atlantic Avenue, just north of Florence Avenue. Security camera footage reviewed by The Times shows masked men wearing olive vests chasing a car wash employee, who was wearing a bright green uniform and cap. The video shows another employee - wearing a bright green cap, a white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans - surrounded by the masked men, his hands restrained behind his back. The employee is tackled to the ground as customers and others gathered, with some taking out their phones to record videos. The man in the white-long sleeved shirt is a car wash worker who is a U.S. citizen, according to the employee's brother, Jesús Rafael Cervantes. He said his brother, who lives in Bell Gardens, wanted to defend a coworker - an action that, Cervantes said, prompted agents to detain his brother. "Just for defending someone, they came and knocked him down. As you can see in the videos, they came and knocked him down like that, just like that. And that's unfair, that they come and grab a person like that as if he were an animal or something," Cervantes told The Times. Protesters gathered to confront the agents in the area, which is about 6 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In one video shared with The Times, a protester sprays white paint on a silver SUV and a voice can be heard saying, "Get the ... out of here!" while others jeer. People can be seen hitting the vehicle. Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. In a statement posted on social media, the agency said Border Patrol vehicles "were violently targeted during lawful operations" in Bell and Maywood. The Department of Homeland Security said one vehicle was rammed and had its tires slashed on Atlantic Boulevard. On Slauson Avenue, a civilian struck a federal vehicle, totaling it, according to the department. "The driver was arrested for suspicion of vehicular assault as a mob formed and slashed additional tires," the department said. The statement included photos showing silver vehicles with cracked or shattered windows. One silver SUV was shown with dented doors and scratched paint. "Federal law enforcement is facing an ever-escalating increase in assaults - but we will not be deterred," the department said. "If you assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted." The statement did not indicate how many were detained on immigration-related matters. The protest in Bell, a city with a large Latino and Lebanese community, comes as the federal government continues its campaign in Los Angeles to find and capture undocumented immigrants. The actions have spurred backlash from local and state officials and have forced some residents into hiding. "We're not sure who these armed men are. They show up without uniforms. They show up completely masked. They refuse to give ID. They're driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases, out-of-state license plates. Who are these people?" Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a briefing Friday night. "If they're federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?" Bass asked. Around Atlantic and Brompton avenues, crowds of people gathered, taking videos and looking at the agents - armed individuals wearing balaclavas, some carrying long weapons, wearing vests and camouflage pants. They stood in the street near a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. The crowd and agents were separated by yellow tape. One woman with a bullhorn hurled obscenities at the agents and President Donald Trump; others waved a Mexican flag and an upside-down U.S. flag, traditionally a symbol of protest or distress. "Losers!" another woman called out. "Go fight a real war!" Another shouted, "Shame on you!" Elsewhere, one of the armed people wore a U.S. flag on his vest, and some onlookers called out to them. "Are you a bounty hunter? How much is the bounty for an illegal right now?" someone on the street yelled. Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar Loza was in Bell as the crowds gathered, and said the mood on Atlantic Avenue shifted when suddenly an unmarked silver SUV drove toward her and other people standing near her, angering the crowd. Some began to hit and throw objects at the SUV. A second unmarked vehicle attempted to do the same thing moments later, she said. "It felt like there was a point being made to incite violence," Alcantar Loza said. "People were peacefully protesting, and it became something completely different because of the vehicle that was trying to drive into the crowd." "We've seen it across the board, folks show up to an immigration activity and then violence is enacted upon them. Then they respond and we're shown as violent protesters - when in reality folks were calm, they were chanting, they were protesting. And they tried to run people over," she said. Just after 8 p.m., peaceful protesters waving Mexican and American flags gathered around Jack's Car Wash in Bell, as motorists honked their horns in support. "ICE out of everywhere!!!" one sign said. "Immigrants built this country," said another. There was another immigration action that appeared to focus on a car wash in Maywood on Friday, according to Maywood Councilman Eddie De La Riva. Ultimately, no one was taken from that business, he said. At one point, there was considerable commotion near the car wash. Video shared with The Times shows a minor collision between a blue BMW and a blue SUV with at least three agents inside, all wearing green vests. One of the passengers in the SUV opens his door in front of the slowly moving BMW, causing the BMW to hit the SUV's door. Agents detained the BMW's driver, who was later released, the councilman said, after onlookers shouted at the agents to let the driver go. By then, a crowd of protesters had formed. Fernando Botello, 39, was driving back to Maywood after picking up his girlfriend's 14-year-old son when he got an alert on his citizen app that people suspected to be immigration agents were spotted in the area. Moments later, he said, he learned that the agents were at an Xpress Wash at Slauson and Alamo avenues, just blocks from his home. When Botello got close to the intersection, he could see several vehicles were blocking the roadway. Unable to move, he got out of the car and watched the scene. He said the crowd started screaming to let the man go. He could hear people asking for the agents' badge numbers. After five minutes, he said, local police arrived. It was at that point, he said, the agents got in their vehicles and threw tear gas at a group standing on a corner near a park. A video taken by Botello shows an armed masked man standing from the ledge of an open door of a black SUV slowly driving along a street near Maywood's Riverfront Park. The video shows the agent throwing an object toward a crowd of people, and a loud bang can be heard as he gets back in the vehicle. Botello said the object was a flash bang grenade, and was tossed at people who were taking video. "They knew what they wanted to do," he said. As he recounted the situation, Botello paused, trying to hold back tears. "I was upset because the people were exercising their right. They weren't hitting the officers' vehicles, they weren't in the middle of the street," he said. "You're punishing people for standing up for their neighbors and yourself." "It feels surreal. I don't know how long this is going to last." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
