Irina Park
Read our editorial on mass deportations here, and the ongoing struggle against it here.
Since being returned to the US, Kilmar Abrego Garcia will remain in federal custody until at least mid-July after his lawyers asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Tennessee to delay his release out of concern he would be deported if released ahead of trial—a concern both his legal team and the Justice Department acknowledged could disrupt proceedings. Earlier in June, Judge Holmes rejected an initial request from the Justice Department to postpone his release and said Abrego Garcia should be granted pretrial release to his brother’s residence. This decision was appealed, and a US district judge set a hearing for July 16.
Court records also show that the Trump administration has decided not to deport a key witness in the prosecution, Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes. Records now show that Hernandez Reyes has been released from a federal prison to a halfway house and will be “allowed” to remain in the US for a year.
Abrego Garcia’s case garnered national attention in March 2025 after Trump violated court orders and wrongfully deported him to CECOT, the infamous concentration camp in El Salvador. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran construction worker from Maryland, father of 3, and a member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) union. He came to the U.S. as a teenager escaping violence and persecution in his home country instigated by U.S. imperialism.
In her ruling Sunday, Judge Holmes noted that prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a danger to the community or a flight risk and has lived in Maryland for more than a decade where he has raised three children with his wife. An attendee of the trial told The Worker: “Judge Holmes dismissed the incoherent evidence provided by federal prosecutors, yet Kilmar is still in prison because of a deportation detainer the government has on him.”
The attendee continued: “Meanwhile, the Democratic Party… [has] proven incapable of leading any serious resistance. The peak of their actions in the last five days has been a weak press conference and photo ops. The highlight of the press conference was a testimony by Kilmar’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. However, the content of the messaging put forward by NGOs and Democratic Party officials was limited to toothless and superficial calls asking for the federal government and vague appeals to uphold ‘due process’ and to follow the Supreme Court ruling requiring his return.”
Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, stated to a press conference before last week’s hearing that it had been 106 days since Kilmar was abducted by the Trump administration and separated from her and their children.
Abrego Garcia’s case is a high-profile example of the state’s use of deportations and terror against the immigrant working class—among the most exploited and oppressed section of society—in order to alleviate the ruling class’s deepening economic crisis.
This is a developing story.
Photo: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and their child. Retrieved from Facebook.
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