NASHVILLE—A federal judge, Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, indicated late Friday afternoon that she would not make an immediate decision in the detention hearing of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man illegally deported by the Trump administration in March.
Holmes stated that she would “take the case under advisement” and render a decision “sooner rather than later” as to whether Abrego Garcia will be granted bail. However, the judge gave no indication as to when “sooner” might be.
The case, which has become a cause célèbre, has garnered national and international attention. People’s World observed the proceedings from the media room of the Nashville Federal Courthouse on June 13.
Abrego Garcia was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 15 and deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador. After a successful court fight, he was returned to this country on June 6 and now faces charges of human smuggling and being a member of a criminal gang. In this regard, the hearing was said to be an arraignment.
The charges brought by Trump prosecutors stem from a traffic stop three years ago when Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding. In his vehicle were nine passengers, all fellow construction workers, he was driving to a worksite.
Body camera footage shows that the officers on scene that day discussing suspicions that he was “smuggling” undocumented persons. They chose to allow him to go on his way that day with only a warning about an expired driver’s license, however, and did not issue a citation or allege any crime.
The indictment he now faces accuses Abrego Garcia of allegedly “transporting” hundreds of undocumented immigrants throughout the U.S. It is part of a new line of attack being taken by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who now says Abrego Garcia was part of an “alien smuggling ring.”
Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was represented by Federal Public Defender Dumaka Shabazz.
The case has been mired in farcical controversy from the start.
Abrego Garcia’s defense team has labeled the charges against him “preposterous.” Moreover, a top prosecutor in the Nashville-area Department of Justice (DOJ), Ben Schrader, resigned after the Trump administration brought charges against Abrego Garcia, saying there was no evidence on which to proceed.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys also told Holmes that some of the prosecution’s witnesses had received favors regarding their own immigration status or criminal charges in exchange for testifying on behalf of the government. Judge Holmes expressed skepticism about many of the assertions the government used these witnesses to make, including accusations of sexual harassment and the smuggling of children.
Speaking to the court, one federal agent acknowledged that at least one witness who was living in the U.S. undocumented and had a criminal record is now getting preferred status.
“He sounds like the exact type of person this government should be trying to deport,” Shabazz said. “They’re going to give all these other people deals to stay in the country just to get this one other person.”
The charges are seen by many as a face-saving farce on the part of Trump and Bondi and elicited confusion in the courtroom. The prosecution’s case was filled with irrelevancies, some of which the federal public defender timely objected to and to some of which he didn’t.
In the late morning of the proceeding, Shabazz told the court that he had missed objecting to some of the prosecutor’s arguments due to a misunderstanding of what was actually being presented. The judge said she also misunderstood the prosecution and that she would give the defense the option of having the statements in question stricken from the record.
This had to do with the admission of hearsay evidence. Both the federal public defender and the judge said they had been confused by Trump’s prosecutor.
The judge said several times in the morning that she expected to have the entire matter resolved by the end of the day, but that obviously didn’t happen.
Also, the court stated several times that the purpose of the hearing was to determine whether the government was entitled to a detention hearing, while the news media characterized the proceeding itself as a detention hearing. The judge also, at times, referred to the proceeding as a detention hearing
Was this a detention hearing to determine if there was to be a detention hearing? Observers inside and outside the courtroom were left confused.
There was also a dispute early on in the hearing on the question of whether Abrego Garcia was being charged with human smuggling and/or human trafficking. Holmes said that human smuggling and human trafficking were two different offenses, not one and the same.
There was also confusion as to the Rules of Evidence affecting admissible hearsay. The judge strangely said that the Rules of Evidence were relaxed at detention hearings to allow for the admission of hearsay. How much relaxation of the Rules? The judge never clarified.
There were several other absurdities witnessed in the proceeding, but for now, Abrego Garcia, his family, legal experts, activists, and others watching the case must await the court’s decision.
In the meantime, Abrego Garcia remains in custody—even though the legal evidence for his original detention remains flimsy. When Abrego Garcia was deported, he was in the U.S. legally under a 2019 court order barring his deportation.
Outside the federal courthouse, meanwhile, several dozen demonstrators rallied in support of Abrego Garcia with signs and speakers. The public was encouraged to contact their political representatives to demand justice for the embattled Abrego Garcia.
As with all news-analysis and op-ed articles published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
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