Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia say they are concerned he can’t get a fair trial in his human smuggling case because Trump administration officials keep attacking him with “highly prejudicial, inflammatory, and false statements.”
The attorneys are asking a federal judge in Tennessee to order U.S. government officials involved with his case — including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — to hold back on their comments.
“For months, numerous representatives of the same federal government that is responsible for prosecuting this case have publicly disparaged Mr. Abrego’s character and reputation,” his attorneys wrote in a filing on Thursday night, adding that officials have “expressed the opinion that he is guilty of the crimes charged and far worse.”
The Salvadoran national and former Maryland construction worker became a lightning rod over President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies when he was wrongfully deported in March to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Trump’s Republican administration claimed he was an MS-13 gang member, which he has repeatedly denied and for which he wasn’t charged.
Facing a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia in June, but only to face the federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty, while his attorneys have called the case preposterous and vindictive.