Overview

• Abrego Garcia was released Aug. 22 and is traveling directly to Maryland under home detention with electronic monitoring and his brother as custodian, per a Tennessee court order.
• Homeland Security communications state officials may seek to remove him to Uganda, and filings describe an earlier offer to send him to Costa Rica if he pleaded guilty, which his lawyers say he declined.
• U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes and U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw found prosecutors failed to show he is dangerous, ordered pretrial release, and set conditions ensuring access to counsel if ICE detains him.
• He faces two federal human-smuggling counts in Tennessee, has pleaded not guilty, and is scheduled for trial in January 2026.
• His defense has moved to dismiss the case as selective and vindictive prosecution, after courts forced his return from El Salvador where he was wrongfully deported and held in the CECOT mega-prison.