Overview
- Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reposted a video and wrote that DHS is under a gag order while Kilmar Abrego Garcia is “making TikToks.”
- Officials at DHS and DOJ remain restricted from making prejudicial statements under a federal order in the criminal case, which reporting says was later narrowed.
- U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis extended a temporary restraining order that prevents immediate ICE re-detention after the government failed to produce a final removal order.
- The ruling keeps in place Abrego Garcia’s release from immigration custody, and a separate judge canceled his trial and set a Jan. 28 hearing on alleged prosecutorial vindictiveness.
- Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March in what officials called an administrative error despite a 2019 order, he has pleaded not guilty to 2022 human smuggling charges, and he denies government claims of MS-13 ties.