Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in the country, and he does not like what members of the Trump administration are saying about him.
The media has been hammering the administration over its effort to have Garcia deported, so the White House has been firing back with allegations made against the accused gang member.
Now, Garcia is hoping to shut them up, hitting the administration with a gag order request.
While the administration initially fought all measures to have Garcia returned to the U.S. after an erroneous deportation to El Salvador, it reversed course after leveling a slew of charges against the man, including human trafficking.
The charges were initiated after bodycam footage surfaced from a past traffic stop in Tennessee. Officers seemed convinced that Garcia was running bodies, but nothing happened until DHS went after him.
Garcia had several passengers in the car at issue, none of whom apparently had luggage or spoke English. When you saw the faces on the people in the car, there was pure panic in their eyes, so the leap to human trafficking was quite easy to make.
The illegal migrant was eventually returned to Tennessee to be charged, then sent back to Maryland, where ICE agents detained him.
The Democratic Party has made Garcia its poster child in recent months.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore recently stated, “Every person is afforded their right to due process by the Constitution, and from the start, we’ve asked that due process be followed -- meaning everyone receives proper notice of the allegations against them and has an opportunity to be heard.”
He continued, “This was never about one person, but about the laws that govern all people in our country. Several courts have made decisions in this case, and we expect the Trump administration to follow those decisions.”
No, it was about getting headlines to fight back against the bad orange man, nothing more.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has been leading the charge against Garcia, telling the media he is an “MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator."
Garcia’s legal team has now filed a request for a gag order on the basis that these comments in the media will prejudice legal proceedings against him.
Unfortunately for the Trump administration, an Obama-appointed judge is overseeing the case.
I fully expect the request to be granted, and I am sure the Trump administration will appeal it, just as it has done in all the other cases the administration has faced.
