Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers ask judge to dismiss criminal charges

Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains detained

Kilmar Abrego Garcia to stay detained pursuing caller tribunal orders connected release 02:38

Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador lone to beryllium brought backmost to the U.S. to look smuggling charges, asked a national justice successful Nashville connected Tuesday to disregard his indictment, calling it a "vindictive and selective prosecution" by the Trump administration.

The attorneys claimed the Trump medication is lone prosecuting Abrego Garcia for alleged quality smuggling crimes due to the fact that helium challenged his deportation to El Salvador, wherever helium was initially held astatine the notorious mega-prison known arsenic CECOT. His lawyers person said their lawsuit was beaten astatine that prison earlier being transferred to a lower-level information facility.

Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally successful 2011 astatine property 16 and was granted ineligible extortion from being deported to his location state of El Salvador successful 2019. But helium was inactive arrested by migration officials and deported determination earlier this year. 

While the Trump medication initially conceded successful national tribunal that his deportation to El Salvador had been a mistake, it has since sought to undermine Abrego Garcia's lawsuit successful the tribunal of nationalist opinion, accusing him of being a pack member, highlighting domestic violence allegations and charging him with smuggling.

Abrego Garcia has remained successful pre-trial detention since helium was flown backmost to the U.S. successful aboriginal June. The Justice Department has alleged successful its transgression indictment that earlier his deportation to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia transported immigrants, including minors, who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico borderline illegally arsenic portion of a smuggling conspiracy. 

One of the main pieces of grounds cited by prosecutors is simply a 2022 postulation halt during which Tennessee troopers stopped Abrego Garcia arsenic helium was driving 9 radical without immoderate luggage crossed authorities lines. Abrego Garcia's lawyers said it was telling that the national authorities did not prosecute him until aft his deportation, which gained wide nationalist attention. 

"Indeed, the lone imaginable mentation for the timing of the charges present is that the authorities chose to usage this prosecution to punish Mr. Abrego for exercising his close to situation the violations of owed process that led to his unconstitutional deportation, incarceration, and torture successful El Salvador," the lawyers said successful a ineligible filing.

"This, coupled with the government's statements intelligibly showing the intent to retaliate against Mr. Abrego for pursuing civilian remedies for his amerciable deportation, unquestionably establishes discriminatory intent," the filing continued.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers said the Trump medication had "gone to utmost lengths to marque a transgression case," including by utilizing a convicted smuggler who has been deported 5 times arsenic its "star cooperator." They said the witnesser was getting lenient attraction from the authorities successful speech for his cooperation, adjacent though helium was purportedly the caput of a smuggling concern and Abrego Garcia was "allegedly a specified driver."

Abrego Garcia's lawyers are besides asking the national tribunal successful Nashville to bid their client's merchandise from pre-trial detention erstwhile a enactment connected that bid lapses connected Friday, Aug. 22. While the tribunal ordered Abrego Garcia's pre-trial merchandise earlier this summer, it paused that bid aft his lawyers expressed concerns that their lawsuit would beryllium instantly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and processed for deportation.

If he's released, the lawyers asked the tribunal to springiness Abrego Garcia 48 hours to study to pre-trial supervision successful Maryland. If there's a merchandise hearing, the lawyers asked the tribunal to bid the U.S. Marshals Service to transport Abrego Garcia from the tribunal backmost to the detention installation wherever he's being held, truthful helium tin beryllium released from there. The attorneys said they've hired a backstage information radical to instrumentality Abrego Garcia from Tennessee to Maryland.

In July, a national justice successful Maryland ordered the Trump medication to instrumentality Abrego Garcia to Maryland, wherever helium lived with his U.S. national woman and child, truthful helium tin beryllium supervised by ICE there. She besides blocked ICE from instantly re-detaining him successful Tennessee and from deporting him without immoderate grade of notice, but did not forbid the anticipation of the bureau re-arresting him successful Maryland.

CBS News reached retired to representatives for the Department of Justice asking for remark connected Tuesday's ineligible filings.

In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said Abrego Garcia "will ne'er locomotion America's streets again," calling him a "gang subordinate and quality trafficker."