田纳西州监督基尔马·阿布雷戈·加西亚刑事案件的一名联邦法官下令国土安全部和司法部官员不要发表对他有偏见的言论。
美国地区法官韦弗利·克伦肖(Waverly Crenshaw)写道:“DOJ和DHS的员工如果未能遵守要求，不发表任何‘很可能对刑事诉讼造成重大损害’的声明，可能会受到制裁。”
克伦肖法官在周一的备忘录意见中表示，包括DHS国务卿克里斯蒂·诺姆(Kristi Noem)在内的政府官员做出了“令人不安的法外声明，特别是其中许多声明被夸大了，如果不仅仅是不准确的话，”特别引用了阿布雷戈·加西亚是MS-13成员的声明。
克伦肖说，偏见性陈述包括对阿布雷戈·加西亚的性格、名誉和犯罪记录的评论。他补充说，特朗普官员违反了当地法院的一项规定，该规定限制政府雇员对正在进行的刑事案件发表评论，并命令美国田纳西州中部地区检察官办公室将该规定通知DOJ和DHS的雇员。
在另一项命令中，联邦法官命令政府向法院提交密封文件，说明其从“驱逐但不起诉”到“起诉然后驱逐”的立场变化。
克伦肖承认，在普通情况下，政府将是正确的，内部文件揭示了起诉背后的动机将是不可发现的。但是，他说，“这不是一个普通的案件。”
“阿布雷戈已经建立了一个合理的可能性，对他的起诉是有动机的，至少部分是为了报复他在马里兰州移民案中行使宪法权利，”克伦肖法官写道。
法官接着说罗伯特·麦奎尔，演员田纳西州中部地区的联邦检察官在他提交的一份补充证词中没有回答关于阿布雷戈·加西亚起诉的某些问题。
“阿布雷戈的案件是如何出现在他的办公桌上的，为什么它会在2025年4月27日出现，而该案件此前已由DHS在2025年4月1日结案?克伦肖周一在一份文件中写道。"案件不会神奇地出现在检察官的办公桌上。"
克伦肖法官补充说，在考虑驳回报复性起诉的动议时，将文件放在检察官桌上的人的动机是“高度相关的”。
田纳西州法官还命令政府出示今年早些时候副总检察长办公室和麦奎尔办公室之间关于阿布雷戈·加西亚起诉的任何电子邮件。
下周将举行为期两天的听证会。
萨尔瓦多人阿布雷戈·加西亚和他的妻子、孩子一直住在马里兰州三月被驱逐出境尽管特朗普政府声称他是犯罪团伙MS-13的成员，但他的家人和律师否认了这一点，尽管2019年法院下令禁止将他驱逐到该国，因为担心受到迫害。
他是带回美国。今年6月，他将在田纳西州面临人口走私的指控，对此他表示不服罪。
在被释放到他在马里兰州的兄弟的监管下等待审判后，他被再次被拘留目前被关押在宾夕法尼亚州的一个拘留所里。
辛尼斯法官一直在监督阿布雷戈·加西亚移民案件在马里兰州，早些时候取缔了政府将他驱逐出美国。
国土安全部周五在一份法庭通知中表示，西非国家利比里亚已经同意接受阿布雷戈·加西亚，此前该机构曾表示计划将阿布雷戈·加西亚驱逐到埃斯瓦蒂尼或乌干达。
Federal judge orders DOJ, DHS to stop 'prejudicial' statements about Abrego Garciaand his case
A federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s criminal case in Tennessee has ordered Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice officials to refrain from making prejudicial statements about him.
“DOJ and DHS employees who fail to comply with the requirement to refrain from making any statement that ‘will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing’ this criminal prosecution may be subject to sanctions,” wrote U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw.
In his memorandum opinion on Monday, Judge Crenshaw stated that government officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, have made “extrajudicial statements that are troubling, especially where many of them are exaggerated if not simply inaccurate,” specifically citing statements that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13.
Prejudicial statements include comments about Abrego Garcia’s character, reputation, and criminal record, Crenshaw said.He added that Trump officials violated a local court rule limiting comments from government employees relating to an ongoing criminal case and ordered the U.S. attorney's office for the Middle District of Tennessee to notify DOJ and DHS employees about the rule.
In a separate order, the federal judge ordered the government to produce documents under seal to the court about its change in position from "deport but not prosecute” to "prosecute and then deport."
Crenshaw acknowledged that in an ordinary case, the government would be correct that internal documents revealing the motivations behind a prosecution would be non-discoverable. But, he said, “this is not an ordinary case.”
“Abrego has established a reasonable likelihood that his prosecution was motivated, at least in part, in retaliation for him exercising his constitutional rights in his Maryland immigration case,” Judge Crenshaw wrote.
The judge went on to say that Robert McGuire, the actingU.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, failed to answer certain questions about Abrego Garcia’s prosecution in a supplemental affidavit he submitted.
“How did Abrego’s case arrive on his desk and why did it show up on April 27, 2025, when the case had previously been closed by DHS on April 1, 2025?,” Crenshaw wrote on Monday in a filing. “Cases do not magically appear on the desks of prosecutors.”
Judge Crenshaw added that the motivations of the people who “place the file” on the prosecutor’s desk are “highly relevant” when considering a motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution.
The Tennessee judge also ordered the government to produce any emails between the Deputy Attorney General’s Office and McGuire’s office from earlier this year about Abrego Garcia’s prosecution.
Two days of hearings are scheduled in the case next week.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, wasdeported in Marchto El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
He wasbrought back to the U.S.in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he wasagain detainedby immigration authorities and is currently being held in a detention facility in Pennsylvania.
Judge Xinis, who has been overseeing Abrego Garcia'simmigration casein Maryland, had earlierbanned the governmentfrom removing him from the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a court notice on Friday that the West African nation of Liberia hadagreed to acceptAbrego Garcia, after the agency previously indicated it was planning to deport Abrego Garcia to Eswatini or Uganda.
