The Trump administration has made a "significant concession" in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia after claiming earlier this month that it would "immediately" take the El Salvadorian migrant into ICE custody for deportation if he was freed from a federal prison.
Fox News reported that administration lawyers agreed Monday to keep Abrego Garcia in custody in the United States for at least a 30-day period.
"The agreement appears to be a significant concession from the Trump administration, and comes after senior Trump administration officials told a federal judge in Maryland earlier this month that they plan to 'immediately' take Abrego Garcia into ICE custody pending release from federal criminal custody in Tennessee and begin removal proceedings to a third country, regardless of the status of his criminal trial," the report said.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia argued that the 30-day stay would give their client "additional time to evaluate his legal options ahead of the government's plans to deport him from the U.S. again — this time, likely to a third country such as Mexico or South Sudan."
Abrego Garcia was one of dozens of immigrants sent to an El Salvadoran prison without a court hearing earlier this year. He was returned to the U.S. after outrage, but was quickly charged with federal crimes and imprisoned.