Particle.news
Download on the App Store
13 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

DHS Official Decries Abrego Garcia’s TikToks Under Court Gag Order

The episode highlights court‑imposed speech restrictions designed to protect a fair trial in a prosecution now under scrutiny for possible vindictiveness.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 12: Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks to supporters as he arrives for his first check-in at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Baltimore Field Office the day after a federal judge ordered his release from a detention in Pennsylvania, on December 12, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. An undocumented immigrant who had been living in the United States since 2011, Abrego Garcia was detained by federal agents and deported to the CECOT prison in El Salvador in March 2025, which the Trump Administration called "an administrative error." (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at the United States District Court District of Maryland, on December 22, 2025, in Greenbelt, Maryland.
GREENBELT, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 22: Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives with his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura and his attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg at U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on December 22, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Abrego Garcia, a longtime Maryland resident who was deported to the high-security CECOT prison in El Salvador, then sent back to the U.S. and released after the court found his detention unlawful, attended a hearing on whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may re-detain him. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Image

Overview

  • DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin publicly complained that the department is "under gag order" while Kilmar Abrego Garcia posts TikTok lip‑sync videos, drawing fresh attention to the case.
  • A federal judge in Tennessee ordered DHS and DOJ employees in October to avoid prejudicial public comments about Abrego Garcia’s human‑smuggling case.
  • U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis extended a temporary restraining order blocking immigration authorities from immediately re‑detaining Abrego Garcia after no final removal order was produced.
  • U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw canceled the upcoming trial and scheduled a January 28 hearing to examine whether the prosecution is vindictive.
  • Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a 2019 order, which officials called an administrative error, and government claims of MS‑13 affiliation remain disputed in court.