By TRAVIS LOLLER and BEN FINLEY, Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia will stay in jail for now over concerns from his lawyers that he could be deported if he’s released to await his trial on human smuggling charges, a federal judge in Tennessee ruled Monday.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay his release because of what they described as “contradictory statements” by President Donald Trump’s administration over what would happen to the Salvadoran national. The lawyers wrote in a brief to the court Friday that “we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue” by the Justice Department, adding that the “irony of this request is not lost on anyone.”

Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told The Associated Press on Thursday that the department intends to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him, stating that Abrego Garcia “has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again.”

This courtroom sketch depicts Kilmar Abrego Garcia sitting in court during his detention hearing on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (Diego Fishburn via AP)

Hours earlier, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn told a federal judge in Maryland that the U.S. government plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a “third country” that isn’t El Salvador. Guynn said there was no timeline for the deportation plans.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys on Friday cited Guynn’s comments as a reason to fear he would be deported “immediately.”

Abrego Garcia, a construction worker who had been living in Maryland, became a flashpoint over Trump’s hardline immigration policies when he was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. Facing mounting pressure and a Supreme Court order, Trump’s Republican administration returned him this month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called “preposterous.”

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, center left, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia leaves the federal courthouse Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

In a response to the request by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys Friday, acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire agreed to delaying Abrego Garcia’s release. He reiterated his stance that Abrego Garcia should remain in jail before trial. The prosecutor also said he lacks jurisdiction over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stating he has no way to prevent Abrego Garcia’s deportation.

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not respond directly to a question from The Associated Press on Friday regarding its plans for Abrego Garcia. A DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement that “he will never go free on American soil.”

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have accused the Trump administration of bringing Abrego Garcia back “to convict him in the court of public opinion” with the intention of deporting him before he has a chance to defend himself at trial.

“In a just world, he would not seek to prolong his detention further,” his attorneys wrote.

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Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked the judge to delay his release until a July 16 court hearing, which will consider a request by prosecutors to revoke Abrego Garcia’s release order while he awaits trial.

Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty on June 13 to smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify his mistaken expulsion to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

When the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia in March, it violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that barred his expulsion to his native country. The immigration judge had found that Abrego Garcia faced a credible threat from gangs that had terrorized him and his family.

The human smuggling charges pending against Abrego Garcia stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville wrote in a ruling Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community.

During a court hearing Wednesday, Holmes set specific conditions for Abrego Garcia’s release that included him living with his brother, a U.S. citizen, in Maryland. But she held off on releasing him over concerns that prosecutors can’t prevent ICE from deporting him.

Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will visit a new migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades on Tuesday, showcasing his border crackdown in the face of humanitarian and environmental concerns.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it will be “informally known as Alligator Alcatraz,” a moniker that has alarmed immigrant activists but appeals to the president’s aggressive approach to deportations.

“There’s only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one way flight,” she said. “It is isolated and it is surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain.”

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The detention facility is being built on an isolated airstrip about 50 miles west of Miami, and it could house 5,000 detainees. The surrounding swampland is filled with mosquitos, pythons and alligators.

Trump will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.

DeSantis confirmed Trump’s trip earlier in the day, saying he thinks the facility will be “ready for business” by the time he visits.

The governor, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year, said he spoke with Trump over the weekend. He also said the site obtained approval from the Department of Homeland Security.

“What’ll happen is you bring bring people in there,” DeSantis said during an unrelated press conference in Wildwood. “They ain’t going anywhere once they’re there, unless you want them to go somewhere, because good luck getting to civilization. So the security is amazing.”

The facility has drawn protests over its potential impact on the delicate ecosystem and criticism that Trump is trying to send a cruel message to immigrants. Some Native American leaders have also opposed construction, saying the land is sacred.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who popularized the name “Alligator Alcatraz,” has described the facility as a “one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”

“There’s really nowhere to go. If you’re housed there, if you’re detained there, there’s no way in, no way out,” he told conservative media commentator Benny Johnson.

He has described the facility as “Alligator Alcatraz.” DHS posted an image of alligators wearing hats with the acronym ICE, for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

State officials in Florida are spearheading construction but much of the cost is being covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

By TARA COPP, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top military commander in charge of troops deployed to Los Angeles to respond to protests against immigration raids has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if 200 of those forces could be returned to wildfire fighting duty, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 active duty Marines against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom in early June to respond to a series of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles.

The federal troops’ domestic deployment raised multiple legal questions, including whether the administration would seek to employ emergency powers under the Insurrection Act to empower those forces to conduct law enforcement on U.S. soil, which they are not permitted to do except in rare circumstances. The Marines, however, are primarily assigned to protecting federal buildings.

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The Insurrection Act has not been used. But in at least one circumstance, Marines have temporarily detained civilians in Los Angeles.

California has just entered peak wildfire season, and Newsom has warned that the Guard is now understaffed due to the Los Angeles protest deployment.

The top military commander of those troops, U.S. Northern Command head Gen. Gregory Guillot, recently submitted a request to Hegseth to return 200 of the National Guard troops back to Joint Task Force Rattlesnake, which is the California National Guard’s wildfire unit, the officials said.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet announced publicly.

Trump has contended that “there has been an invasion” of migrants entering the country without legal permission. At the height of the deployments some members of Congress in their annual budget hearings with the secretary questioned whether he foresaw extending the deployment nationwide, Hegseth did not provide a direct response.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, at the time told the lawmakers “I don’t see any foreign, state-sponsored folks invading, but I’ll be mindful of the fact that there have been some border issues.”

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Monday ending U.S. sanctions on Syria, following through on his earlier promise to do so.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was designed to “promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace.” Sanctions will remain in place on former President Bashar Assad, his associates and others, she said.

The U.S. granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in May, which was a first step toward fulfilling the Republican president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

Trump met with Syria’s interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia in May and told Al-Sharaa that he would lift sanctions and explore normalizing relations in a major policy shift between the U.S. and Syria.

“This is another promise made and promise kept,” Leavitt said Monday.

The European Union has also followed through with lifting nearly all remaining sanctions on Syria.