Judge delays ruling on release of Abrego Garcia from Tennessee jail
ALSO INSIDE: Protesting this weekend? Bookmark this.
Cam here 👋 bringing you your daily dose of what people are doing – good, bad, and otherwise – in the world of politics. We’re diving into the stories you won’t see anywhere else. And remember, you can also keep up with me over on TikTok and Bluesky.
And if you’re looking for a little more from the COURIER playlist, Akilah Hughes’ new series, “How is This Better?” explores how Donald Trump has soured America’s relationship with our once closest neighbor and ally, and our docuseries “REPRESENT” follows Deja Foxx’s journey to take on the Democratic Party’s gerontocracy.
What Happened
Federal magistrate judge Barbara Holmes on Friday closed a six-hour hearing on whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia would be detained while awaiting trial without making a decision. Abrego Garcia will remain in custody until Holmes makes her decision, which she said would be, “sooner rather than later.”
In the court filing requesting Abrego Garcia be released, his lawyers argued that, after spending three months being illegally detained in a foreign prison, he deserved to finally be afforded his basic rights.
“With no legal process whatsoever, the United States government illegally detained and deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia and shipped him to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) in El Salvador, one of the most violent, inhumane prisons in the world,” Abrego Garcia’s lawyer argued in a court filing. “Mr. Abrego Garcia asks the Court for what he has been denied the past several months – due process.”
Abrego Garcia returned to the United States last week after spending months incarcerated in El Salvador, only to be taken directly to a Tennessee jail. He is one of hundreds of people the US government has abducted and sent to the mega-prison CECOT indefinitely, as they had not been charged with a crime or sentenced by a judge. Abrego Garcia’s return to the US despite the Trump administration’s exhaustive efforts to leave him in El Salvador is a major blow to the authoritarian persona Trump has tried to convey since returning to the White House.
After months of ignoring court orders, including a unanimous decision by the US Supreme Court, the Trump administration finally caved—but not before devising a plan to save face with the MAGA base. As I reported last week, federal prosecutors used a 2022 traffic stop to build a human smuggling case against Abrego Garcia and used that to justify bringing him back to the US.
The case against him is dubious at best: the traffic stop from which the charges originate didn’t result in an arrest or even a ticket, and one of the top federal prosecutors in the Nashville US Attorney’s office resigned the day the charges were filed because he believed them to be politically motivated.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has repeatedly spread disinformation about the case, claiming Abrego Garcia trafficked children, drugs, and weapons for the international gang MS-13 — none of which is in the charges actually filed by Bondi’s office.
Not going to jail isn’t the same as going home, however, as prosecutors have said they’ll have Abrego Garcia transferred to an ICE facility, where he would be held in custody as part of a separate proceeding in civil immigration court.
Attempts to Sanewash
Far-Right Spin
Attending a ‘No Kings’ protest? Bookmark this
If you’re one of the millions of people planning to protest the Trump administration during Trump’s birthday military parade on Saturday, it’s important to know your rights and how to stay safe. Protesting is a guaranteed right protected by the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean violence against protestors won’t occur (although, to be very clear… the Constitution dictates it shouldn’t). Law enforcement under the Trump administration has instigated violence at protests recently and is using any excuse they can to detain and arrest as many people as they can.
What they cannot do, however, is prohibit you from filming their actions or taking photos. Should they attempt to or try to confiscate your phone, make sure you have Face or Touch ID turned off and a strong passcode enabled so they cannot access your device. If you are detained, you have the right to remain silent and to an attorney. Check with local organizers to see if any lawyers have made themselves available to help protestors who are arrested.
It’s also a good idea to write on your arm any phone numbers you might need if you are detained — ideally, an emergency contact, local press, and a lawyer. If you plan to be at the protest for a while, bring water, snacks, and sunblock if you’re like me and burn easily.
This is also an excellent opportunity to build community, get involved in further organizing, and find mutual aid groups to volunteer with. If you do attend, let me know how it went! Email me, tag me on Bluesky or TikTok, and make sure to bookmark this guide or save this protest guide from my former COURIER newsroom, The Copper Courier, which is posted on Instagram.
Recently-resigned US Rep. Mark Green, Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District
Since taking office in 2019, former Rep. Green has:
Seen his net worth increase from $30 million to $45 million
Sponsored 121 bills
Authored one bill that was signed into law, allowing K-12 schools to purchase “dangerous weapons” for firearms classes
Said he would not run for reelection in 2024, ran anyway, won, then announced his resignation on June 9, 2025
Promoted the false claim that vaccines cause autism
Divorced his wife so he could marry the woman with whom he had an affair
Fun Facts
Rep. Green was a flight surgeon for the US Army during the Iraq War and was on the mission where Saddam Hussein was captured. Green interrogated Hussein for six hours and has described him in a way that sounds very similar to at least one current world leader:
Put his name and picture everywhere
Threw military parades on his birthday
Considered himself the president of the world who could “do whatever he wanted”
Supports military strikes against Iran
Used mobster-style tactics to intimidate and bully his opposition
Developed a cult of personality among his followers
Despite the similarities, Green has been an ardent supporter of Trump, was the president’s original choice to be US Army Secretary in 2017, and even delayed his departure from Congress at Trump’s request. He voted against both impeachments of Trump, and called the president’s 34-felony-count conviction a disgrace and the trial a sham.
Once a Tennessee traffic stop became the nexus for Abrego Garcia’s legal battles, Green dove headfirst into the fray. He used his position as chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security to demand unredacted documents and unedited video from Abrego Garcia’s 2022 traffic stop be released and claimed to be investigating the matter. Green also used his position to deny House Democrats authorization for a diplomatic trip to El Salvador in May, so they could visit Abrego Garcia and request his release. Four members went anyway and paid for the trip out of their own pockets.
The right to understand
By Abigail Beck, COURIER
Law enforcement is not obligated to speak to you in your native language during detainment—but they are required to ensure that you understand your rights. This includes the right to a lawyer, to remain silent, to make a local phone call — and, if it comes to it, a speedy trial.
Basically, officers are required by law to make a thorough and conscious effort to ensure that you understand your rights. The requirement comes from the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against anyone, citizen or not, on the basis of nationality. However, this practice has been violated in several instances amid the Trump administration’s controversial — and, again, often illegal — nationwide mass deportation efforts.
Kenlyn Rodriguez Rojas is just one example. When he was first detained on Jan. 13, he had a difficult time understanding what officers were trying to say to him, including that he would have to find a lawyer on his own. At his first hearing, he did not have a lawyer present and allegedly didn’t understand what was going on.
Eventually, Rojas opted to self-deport back to Venezuela, a decision that was approved by a judge. Despite this, he was actively in the process of obtaining Temporary Protected Status and had attended his scheduled immigration court appearance in early November. He was sent to CECOT in El Salvador in mid-March.
Situations like this have come up time and time again since Trump’s reelection: In April, a US citizen who can’t read was allegedly tricked into signing a document admitting he was a Mexican citizen who entered the US illegally. And just last week, during ICE’s raids in LA, a man they arrested says he was asked to sign a consent to be tested for COVID, but the document agents had him sign was a consent for deportation.
These are only a sample of many of the communication obstacles that some ICE agents seemingly not only refuse to navigate, but are potentially using to their advantage.
You have the right to understand the circumstances of your detainment — that is not up for debate.
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