Judge Paula Xinis, appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland by former President Barack Obama, has told Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials that they are “absolutely forbidden” from deporting illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an accused MS-13 gang member, human smuggler, and domestic abuser.
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Abrego Garcia following his release from federal custody on human smuggling charges, the Trump administration had plans to deport the illegal alien to Uganda.
Judge Xinis, on Monday, told federal prosecutors that ICE is “absolutely forbidden” from deporting Abrego Garcia from the United States.
“Your clients are absolutely forbidden at this juncture to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the continental United States,” Xinis told prosecutors. “That is the understanding that we have?”
Xinis has ordered Abrego Garcia to remain in the immigration detention center where he is currently being held in Virginia.
Federal prosecutors had offered Abrego Garcia a plea deal where he could avoid being deported to Uganda if he pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges and accepted being deported to a jail in Costa Rica.
The allegations of human trafficking against Abrego Garcia stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where state troopers can be seen on bodycam footage pulling over Abrego Garcia, who was driving a vehicle that belonged to Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes.
Inside the vehicle were nine people, none of whom had luggage. Troopers suspected the people were illegal aliens being smuggled into the United States interior, but after speaking with federal agents they allowed Abrego Garcia to continue on his way.
Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted felon serving time in federal prison in Alabama, was charged in a seven-count indictment in 2020 for operating a human smuggling scheme that brought illegal aliens into the United States interior from the southern border.
FBI agents interviewed Hernandez-Reyes, who reportedly told them that he hired Abrego Garcia to help smuggle illegal aliens into the United States interior.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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