DOJ signals it would rather deport Abrego Garcia than prosecute him
The Trump administration signaled to a federal judge on Monday during a hearing that it would rather deport Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Africa than follow through with prosecuting...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Trump administration signaled to a federal judge on Monday during a hearing that it would rather deport Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Africa than follow through with prosecuting him on charges of transporting illegal migrants. Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland grilled a Department of Justice lawyer over the plans, asking if the administration would remove Abrego Garcia to Liberia this week if it could overcome legal hurdles. Xinis currently has an injunction in place blocking Abrego Garcia from being deported. "I have been told that if there was no prohibition, we would remove him on Friday," DOJ lawyer Drew Ensign said. Xinis pressed Ensign about Abrego Garcia's criminal case in Tennessee , and Ensign replied that he did not know how deporting Abrego Garcia would affect that case. The judge voiced skepticism about the timing of the administration's desired deportation date of Friday. FEDERAL JUDGE LOSES PATIENCE WITH TRUMP DOJ AS ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION STALLS AGAIN Xinis noted that a high-pressure hearing is happening next week over whether the DOJ vindictively brought criminal charges against Abrego Garcia after initially admitting to erroneously deporting him to a prison in El Salvador earlier this year. "I don’t believe a criminal case can go forward if there’s no defendant," Xinis said, adding, "I'm trying to figure out how useful this Friday is, and the reason why I'm asking is because it's common knowledge there is an evidentiary hearing [in Tennessee] next week." Liberia is now the fourth African country raised by lawyers for the Trump administration after they previously identified three others, Uganda, Ghana and Eswatini, that could potentially accept Abrego Garcia, pending dissolution of Xinis' injunction keeping him in the United States. The judge signaled that the Department of Homeland Security's position of wanting to deport him and the DOJ's position of wanting to take him to trial did not add up and that she suspected some behind-th…