Overview

• U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes ruled that Abrego Garcia will stay in federal custody until at least mid-July, postponing his pretrial release over concerns he could be deported again if freed.
• Defense lawyers highlighted contradictory Justice Department statements about his removal plans to argue that no assurances can be trusted.
• Prosecutors reached a cooperation agreement protecting Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes from deportation for at least one year in exchange for his testimony against Abrego Garcia.
• Reyes, a three-time felon convicted of migrant smuggling and deadly conduct, is identified as the registered owner of the SUV at the center of the December 2022 Tennessee traffic stop.
• Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and later returned under a Supreme Court order, faces two federal human smuggling counts and will next appear in court in mid-July.