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Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers asked a federal judge in Tennessee on Thursday to prohibit top Trump officials from making remarks about their client that could bias the jury against him.
His defense team said that administration officials have repeatedly accused Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national facing human smuggling charges, of being a criminal gang member and made other negative claims about him that pose a "substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing this proceeding."
The attorneys pointed to numerous recent instances, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling Abrego Garcia an "MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator."
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"She also called Mr. Abrego a 'monster,'" the attorneys wrote.
This is the second time Abrego Garcia's attorneys have asked the judge to rein in statements from the administration. Judge Waverly Crenshaw previously responded by reminding the government to follow all typical rules and procedures for prosecutions, which include barring prosecutors from making prejudicial statements outside of court.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys asked Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, to bar Department of Homeland Security officials, Department of Justice officials and anyone else involved with the case from making such statements.
Abrego Garcia was erroneously deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador in March. The government claimed for nearly two months in combative hearings and court papers that it could not return him, despite an order from the Supreme Court to attempt to do so.
The Salvadoran migrant entered the country illegally more than a decade ago, but an immigration judge previously barred the government from sending him back to El Salvador, citing his fears of persecution if he were sent there. Abrego Garcia was however eligible to be deported to other countries.
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In a surprise move in June, the DOJ returned Abrego Garcia to the United States and brought an indictment against him for two counts of conspiring to transport illegal immigrants within the country.
He was released from jail last week while he awaits trial, but immigration authorities promptly re-detained him in Maryland, fulfilling fears previously expressed in court by Abrego Garcia and his lawyers.
In a separate civil case in Maryland, a judge has barred the government from deporting Abrego Garcia until at least October. It is unlikely that the DOJ would need to prove its criminal case against Abrego Garcia if he is deported.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have said that since he was released, the Trump administration's attacks on their client outside of court have only worsened.
His defense team noted how Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, appeared on television on Fox News this week and called Abrego Garcia "a gang member, terrorist, wife beater, pedophile, human trafficker [and] alien smuggler." Abrego Garcia was accused by his wife in 2020 of beating her. He is not facing human trafficking charges, and he has denied all the allegations against him.
"The substance of these statements, like the countless other statements highlighted in prior briefs before this Court, clearly violates [prosecutorial rules] and prejudices Mr. Abrego's right to a fair trial," the attorneys wrote.
They asked that if Crenshaw did not want to put restrictions on Trump officials' speech, then the judge should, in the alternative, require the government to explain how it has complied with prosecution rules.
