Will Allensworth ‘09, an assistant federal public defender in Nashville, Tennessee, played a key role in securing an order of release from criminal custody for Kilmar Abrego García, the Salvadoran man who was illegally deported in March to the maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. The defense team recently won the order from federal judge Barbara D. Holmes directing Abrego García’s release, although the judge acknowledged he will likely remain in the custody of immigration officials while he awaits a new trial for human smuggling charges. The Trump administration has accused Abrego García of being part of the MS-13 gang.
Judge Holmes agreed with arguments brought forth in a 20-page filing, which Allensworth co-wrote, asking the court to deny the government’s request for a detention hearing of Abrego García, deeming him not to be a flight risk and finding allegations the government is making against him to be unsubstantiated by available evidence.
García Abrego’s case has dominated headlines for months now, and has become a touchstone of the administration’s aggressive attempts to roll back civil and immigrant rights in the country. Abrego García was recently returned to the US on June 6 from the notorious CECOT prison, after legal challenges helped win a ruling that he had been wrongfully deported.
He had previously been protected from deportation by a 2019 withholding of removal order from a judge, which is granted in cases where a person may be in substantial risk of persecution if they are deported to a certain country. This was ruled to be the case for Abrego García after gangs had threatened him and his family while he lived in El Salvador before escaping to the US.
Although Abrego García may still end up remaining in immigration detention as the criminal case proceeds, the ruling is still seen by many as a victory for due process rights.
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