GREENBELT, Md. — The Trump administration hasn't decided where it would deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is freed from a Tennessee jail, but a U.S. immigration official said Thursday that Mexico and South Sudan could be willing to accept the El Salvador native.
Thomas Giles, an assistant director for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, testified in a Maryland federal court that ICE would detain Abrego Garcia as soon as he's released to await trial on human smuggling charges.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is considering Abrego Garcia's request to order the U.S. government to send him to Maryland instead, a bid aimed at preventing the Trump administration from trying to deport him again.
Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over Republican President Donald Trump's immigration policies when the Salvadoran national was wrongfully deported to his native country in March. Facing mounting pressure and a U.S. Supreme Court order, the administration returned him last month to face the smuggling charges.
The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without any luggage, prompting police to suspect human smuggling. However, he was allowed to drive on.
Abrego Garcia's lawyers have called the charges ''preposterous'' and argue that deporting him will deprive him from defending himself at trial. Justice Department attorneys have countered that he's a danger.
A federal judge in Tennessee could release Abrego Garcia as soon as next Wednesday. A four-hour court hearing in Maryland on Thursday focused on what ICE would do.
Sascha Rand, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, pressed Giles for information about any due process that Abrego Garcia might receive in the U.S. immigration court system. He also asked the ICE official how Abrego Garcia would be treated in a country such as Mexico or South Sudan.