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An immigration judge denied Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s motion to reopen his deportation case, dealing a major blow to the alleged MS-13 gangbanger’s bid to remain in the U.S.
Abrego Garcia filed an emergency motion in August to reopen his immigration case, arguing that he is now eligible to apply for asylum since he returned to the U.S. after being deported to his home country of El Salvador. However, Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor ruled Wednesday that the illegal migrant’s motion is “untimely” because it’s nearly six years after his immigration proceedings, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the decision in a public statement.
“With today’s ruling, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s final order of removal stands,” DHS stated on social media. “This MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator will never be loose on American streets.”
“His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain, this Salvadoran man is not going to be able to remain in our country,” DHS continued. “He will never be allowed to prey on innocent Americans again.”
The Department of Justice, which oversees the immigration court system, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Generally, foreign nationals have one year to apply for asylum after entering the country. Abrego Garcia was denied asylum in 2019 while in removal proceedings, but he was ultimately granted a withholding of removal at the time. Since his deportation and return this year, his counsel attempted to argue that he was now eligible to apply for asylum once again.
Abrego Garcia became one of the biggest names in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown when he was deported to his home country in March and briefly incarcerated at the Central American country’s infamous mega-prison. Following intense public outcry from Democrats, the illegal migrant was returned to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee.
Federal prosecutors maintain that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member and spent his time in the U.S. smuggling illegal migrants, drugs and guns across the country, according to a grand jury indictment. The human smuggling charges stem from a 2022 Tennessee highway stop in which local law enforcement caught him driving eight passengers across the country, none of whom had any luggage and all provided Abrego Garcia’s address as their own.
While an outspoken defender of her husband since his first deportation, Jennifer Vasquez Sura had repeatedly accused him of domestic abuse in 2020 and 2021, including allegations that he punched and scratched her eye, dragged her out of a vehicle and gave her other alleged beatdowns. Sura has since attempted to downplay her past allegations, framing them as isolated incidents.
“Never forget the Democrats flew to a foreign land on the US taxpayer’s dime to break bread with this terrorist gang member and visit him in prison,” DHS stated, referring to the Democrats who visited El Salvador to demand Abrego Garcia be returned to the U.S. “While they continue to fight for criminal illegal aliens, we will continue to put the safety of the American people FIRST.”
The Trump administration is seeking to remove Abrego Garcia from the U.S. while criminal charges regarding his alleged human smuggling activity play out in a Tennessee courtroom. While the withholding of removal order prevents DHS from sending Abrego Garcia back to his home country of El Salvador, the Trump administration could deport him to a third country such as Costa Rica or Eswatini.
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