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Supporters of Kilmar Abrego Garcia rallied Monday as a judge in Maryland heard arguments over whether the Salvadoran native should be returned to the state ahead of his trial on federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee.
The hearing comes amid a months-long legal battle that began after Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March, despite a court ruling that barred him from being sent to his home country.
Abrego Garcia's lawyers are asking for him to remain in custody over concerns that he may be deported again if he is released.
Upon Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S., the Justice Department filed a motion requesting that he remain in custody ahead of trial.
A Tennessee judge, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, denied the motion and ordered Abrego Garcia's release.
But in a hearing on June 26, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn said that once Abrego Garcia is released from detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to begin removal proceedings to send him to a "third country," rather than El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have since requested that he be protected from another deportation and returned to Maryland.
In an effort to secure Abrego Garcia's release without deportation, his attorneys asked Holmes to delay his release from federal custody.
Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland, who is overseeing the immigration aspects of Abrego Garcia's case, is reviewing arguments on that matter Monday, as well as the U.S. government's motion to dismiss Abrego Garcia's civil lawsuit over his mistaken deportation in March.
Activists with CASA - a Maryland-based immigration advocacy and assistance organization - along with faith leaders and other immigration advocates, called for Abrego Garcia to be returned Monday morning.
A crowd of supporters of Kilmar Abrego Garcia gathered outside the Greenbelt, Maryland, federal courthouse, where a judge will hear arguments to dismiss his Maryland case.
"Fight back harder and demand justice for Kilmar, and all the Kilmars out there," one protester said.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was among more than 250 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men deported from the U.S. to El Salvador and held in the Central American country's CECOT prison.