ICE won’t re-detain Abrego Garcia while ban order remains in effect

Summary

U.S. immigration officials told a federal court they will not detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia again while a judge’s order barring that action remains in effect, according to a Tuesday court filing. The filing said the plan depends on whether the order is lifted, and it comes as Abrego Garcia continues fighting to remain in the United States after a mistaken deportation to El Salvador.

The case has drawn attention because it sits at the intersection of immigration enforcement, court oversight, and a separate criminal prosecution. Prosecutors and immigration officials accused Abrego Garcia of involvement with the MS-13 gang, and Abrego Garcia has denied those accusations, with court filings also describing that he has no criminal record.

The detention dispute traces back to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s rulings earlier this month. Xinis questioned in court whether government officials could be trusted to follow orders that would prevent ICE from taking Abrego Garcia back into immigration custody or deporting him, and she later ordered him released on Dec. 11. In that order, Xinis found immigration officials had no viable plan to remove him from the United States and said he could not be held indefinitely, while also issuing a separate order barring ICE from re-detaining him at least for the time being.

After an additional hearing on the issue, Xinis ordered the government to file the brief outlining whether officials planned to detain Abrego Garcia again. The Tuesday filing—signed by Liana J. Castano, assistant director for field operations—said ICE does not plan to detain him again as long as the ban remains in place.

Abrego Garcia’s immigration saga has unfolded in parallel with federal criminal proceedings. The administration brought him back to the United States in June under a court order after a mistaken deportation to El Salvador, where he had been imprisoned. According to the filings and reporting in the case, prosecutors also issued an arrest warrant for human smuggling charges in Tennessee before he was returned.

In the criminal case, a newly unsealed order in the federal court matter described internal Justice Department discussions about whether to prosecute Abrego Garcia. The order revealed that high-level Justice Department officials pushed for his indictment only after his mistaken deportation and return, characterizing the move as a “top priority.”

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the human smuggling charges in federal court. He is seeking to dismiss the case on grounds that the prosecution is vindictive, arguing that the Trump administration is targeting him as punishment for the embarrassment of the mistaken deportation. To support that argument, he has asked for documents about how prosecutors decided to pursue the case, including why the prosecution was brought in 2025 over an incident that occurred in 2022.

The criminal case stems from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where state troopers discussed the possibility of human smuggling after stopping a car traveling with nine passengers. Court records say Abrego Garcia was eventually released with a warning rather than charged at the time. The case was then turned over to Homeland Security Investigations, and court records described a gap with “no record of any effort to charge him until April 2025.”

Earlier in the unsealed proceedings, Judge Waverly Crenshaw found there was “some evidence” the prosecution could be vindictive. The order referenced a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Fox News that Crenshaw said appeared to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won a wrongful deportation case.

In response, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a statement that the emails cited in Crenshaw’s order—specifically a message from then–Acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire on May 15, 2025—confirmed that the ultimate decision on whether to prosecute was made by career prosecutors based on facts, evidence, and established Justice Department practice. The office said communications with Blanche’s office about a high-profile case are routine and required.

Crenshaw’s unsealed order described additional email communications in April and May 2025. The order said Aakash Singh, who works under Blanche, contacted McGuire about Abrego Garcia’s case on April 27, the same day McGuire received a file on the matter from Homeland Security Investigations. It also said that the prosecution was described as a “top priority” for Blanche’s office in an email on April 30, and that later messages included discussion of holding a draft indictment until clearance came from the Deputy Attorney General’s office.

A hearing on Abrego Garcia’s motion to dismiss the human smuggling case is scheduled for Jan. 28. The dispute over whether he can be detained again remains subject to the ongoing effect of Xinis’s order barring re-detention.