Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have requested that federal judges issue GAG orders against Attorney General Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, aimed at preventing “basic public attacks” on Salvadoran citizens who were wrongly deported to El Salvador earlier this year.
On Thursday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer indicated that a motion had been filed in the US District Court for the Central District of Tennessee, claiming that Trump administration officials have been targeting clients since their release from prison, making “highly prejudiced, inflammatory, and false statements.”
“To safeguard the right to a fair trial, Mr. Abrego updates his previous request, insisting that all DOJ and DHS officials involved in this case, including Bondi and Noem, be ordered to cease their actions,” Crenshaw stated.
Noem has accused Abrego Garcia of entering the United States illegally, alleging ties to the Salvadoran gang MS-13. However, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer has refuted these claims.
The Department of Homeland Security stated regarding Abrego Garcia, “He doesn’t belong here. America is a safer place without this MS-13 gangbanger,” and made these comments via a social media post on Monday.
This week, Abrego Garcia was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore, just days after being released from custody in relation to a Tennessee criminal case.
In March, after being deported to a notorious MegaPrison in El Salvador, he returned to the US to face human smuggling charges connected to a 2022 traffic stop.
Following his detention by ICE, Garcia’s attorneys were informed that Salvadoran citizens might be deported to Uganda. US District Judge Paula Sinis stated on Monday that the administration was “absolutely prohibited” from proceeding with his removal.
A DHS official commented on Friday morning, “If Kilmer Abrego Garcia didn’t want to be mentioned by the Secretary of Homeland Security, he wouldn’t have illegally entered our country and committed a serious crime.”
The official added, “Once again, the media seems eager to defend members of the illegal MS-13 gang—this includes a human trafficker, a domestic abuser, and a child predator. The sympathetic narratives about this criminal are falling apart, but they persist in sharing his sob stories.”
The official expressed frustration that there is excessive focus on the “false sob stories” of criminals and gang members, yet insufficient attention given to their victims.
Oka has reached out to the DOJ for comments.
