President Donald Trump's administration is planning to deport migrant Kilmar Abrego for a second time, but does not plan to send him back to El Salvador, where he was wrongly deported in March, a lawyer for the administration told a judge on Thursday.
It is not clear when the deportation might occur or whether it would happen before the criminal case accusing him of smuggling migrants into the United States is complete.
Justice Department lawyer Jonathan Guynn said during a hearing in federal court in Maryland that the United States does not have "imminent plans" to remove Abrego from the United States.
If deported, Abrego would be sent to a third country and not El Salvador, Guynn said. He did not name the country.
Abrego, a Salvadoran national, was deported and imprisoned in El Salvador in March despite a 2019 judicial decision barring him from being sent there because of a risk of persecution.
The Trump administration brought Abrego back to the United States this month to face federal criminal charges accusing him of transporting migrants living illegally in the United States. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case of Abrego, 29, who had been living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen wife and their young son, has become a flashpoint over Trump's hardline immigration agenda.
The federal judge overseeing Abrego's criminal case has ordered him released ahead of trial as early as Friday, but the Trump administration has said it plans to immediately take him into immigration custody.
His fate would then be unclear. Abrego's lawyers have asked that Abrego be kept in Maryland and that the Justice Department, which is prosecuting the criminal case, and the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration proceedings, ensure he is not deported while the criminal case remains pending.
Federal judges in Maryland, where Abrego is suing over the March deportation, and Tennessee, where criminal charges were filed, are both yet to rule on Abrego's requests.
Robert McGuire, the top federal prosecutor in Nashville, Tennessee, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes at a hearing in the criminal case on Wednesday that he would coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security as best as he could but ultimately could not control their decisions about where to house Abrego and whether to deport him.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
9 Comments
Underworld
bass4funk
Just keep this circus running, Trumputins. It surely doesn't make you look ridiculous.
Why would they put him in a Sudanese prison?
He hasn't done anything wrong?
Pretty sure that's against the constitution.
theFu
So not in the next 5 minutes, but 90+ minutes from now, he could be gone.
Trump doesn't want someone getting news cycles that clearly points out lawless behavior of his administration.
That's not true. He entered the US illegally in 2012 and to Trump, that's enough. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k4072e3nno Actually, it is enough for me as well. He should have been detained by ICE and deported the first time he was picked up. But the US laws don't allow that (they still don't).
Trump should be spending more time getting immigration laws changed with Congress helping. Executive Orders shouldn't be abused like he has been doing. Executive Orders need to be for emergencies to be followed up within 6 months by a law that comes through Congress in the normal way.
But since a court ruled that Abrego was seeking asylum, that changes everything and he shouldn't be deported anymore. I disagree with the court that ruled it. If you enter the US illegally, there should be only 1 action. Deportation and $5000 fine for the first offense if you've been in the US less than 1 yr. Overstaying longer means a much heftier fine for the individual AND employer AND landlord along with deportation.
Breaking the immigration laws shouldn't provide any other due process.
Underworld
theFu
He hasn't done anything wrong.
Correct. However, he has since been to court and has Withholding of Removal status. That's enough for me to leave him alone.
Trump is too lazy to work with Congress.
Agree.
Agree.
Harsh and unsympathetic.
Constitutionally incorrect.
bass4funk
Not according to DOJ
I understand, but you don’t get to make that call, DOJ does.
Not sure where you’re getting that from, but ok…
Hmmm
He did, you can say he didn’t, but the court records, police reports and DOJ documents say otherwise. You can say what you want, but you won’t convince me and I have no power in sending this guy away. If you were an American citizen you could write to your local congressman and speak out about, I did a few times about this issue.
Underworld
bass4funk
He hasn't done anything wrong.
Who cares? This DOJ is corrupt. It's what the courts say that matters.
Correct. However, he has since been to court and has Withholding of Removal status. That's enough for me to leave him alone.
Well, the courts do.
Trump is too lazy to work with Congress.
All he has done is Executive Orders. No Congressional bills.
Constitutionally incorrect.
Not sure what you are talking about. All I am saying is that he has the right of due process.
Peppermint
Hmm… Could it be the massive number of EO’s signed with an autopen?
bass4funk
You are not convincing me, I disagree. If you can dissuade Bondi from deporting, go try. I just support the decision
I care about the law, so yes it matters that’s why she is running the agency, they will not allow any left activist court stop them.
Thank you
And he’s still leaving, the judge can’t stop her.
6 months in office, relax it will come.
You never do, but that’s ok, the only thing I care about is that I’m glad she’s doing her job and making sure this guy is gone.
Underworld
bass4funk
He hasn't done anything wrong.
It's not her decision. It's the courts.
Well, the courts do.
Not until he gets a hearing.
That's not her job.
bass4funk
Again, you can say it all day, it means nothing to me, talk to Bondi.
They can’t and won’t stop her, he’s leaving.
They will make sure he’s gone.
Tell her, why are you telling me, I don’t care, I just support her.