Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant facing human trafficking charges, are asking a federal judge to block top Trump administration officials from making public comments about him.
Abrego Garcia, who was deported earlier this year but returned to the U.S. after a court ruling, was detained in Baltimore in August. He is currently awaiting trial in Tennessee, scheduled for January.
Push for Gag Order
His lawyers filed a motion in federal court arguing that remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi are “highly prejudicial, inflammatory, and false.”
“To safeguard his right to a fair trial, Mr. Abrego respectfully renews his earlier requests that the Court order that all DOJ and DHS officials involved in this case, and all officials in their supervisory chain, including [Bondi and Noem], refrain from making extrajudicial comments,” the filing said.
Harsh Statements From Officials
On Aug. 25, Noem posted on X:
“President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens.”
The Department of Homeland Security account also posted a message celebrating his detention, saying: “He doesn’t belong here. He won’t be staying here. America is a safer nation without this MS-13 gangbanger in it. Good riddance.”
Bondi said: “He needs to be in prison, he doesn’t need to be on the streets like all these liberals want him to be. We are going to keep America safe from all of these foreign terrorist organizations, including Abrego Garcia.”
Judge Halts Deportation
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, has ruled that Abrego Garcia cannot be deported while she reviews due process concerns in the case.
The administration had planned to remove him to Uganda before her order.
Background
Abrego Garcia’s case has drawn national attention due to his alleged gang ties. DHS officials said his actions alone made him a target for removal.
“If Kilmar Abrego Garcia did not want to be mentioned by the Secretary of Homeland Security, then he should not have entered our country illegally and committed heinous crimes,” one DHS official told The Hill.
His trial in Tennessee will determine whether he faces up to decades in prison for human trafficking.
