GREENBELT, Md. (WBFF) — The United States intends to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia when he’s released from custody in Tennessee, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice told a federal judge Monday afternoon.

The news came during a hearing in Abrego Garcia’s civil case where his legal team is trying to bring him back to Maryland. Right now, Abrego Garcia is detained in Tennessee where he faces federal human smuggling charges. He’s set to be released July 16.

Abrego Garcia’s legal team filed an emergency petition, arguing he should be brought back to Maryland, telling Judge Paula Xinis, “if this Court does not act swiftly, then the Government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland.”

During a hearing on the issue, among others, attorneys for the DOJ told Judge Xinis it was the government’s plan to deport him to a third country, somewhere other than El Salvador, but the attorneys did not provide specifics when asked for more details about what country or how the process would play out.

While the current plan is to attempt to remove Abrego Garcia to a third country, a DOJ attorney told Judge Xinis, “it’s possible DHS may say they want to revisit the immigration proceeding process.”

Judge Xinis appeared to be running thin on patience with the attorneys for the Trump Administration and the lack of details being provided about the future plans for deportation.

“It’s like trying to nail Jello to a wall,” she said.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in the civil case, noted that during the next hearing, witnesses from the Department of Homeland Security will be required to testify under oath and provide information about deportation plans.

When questioned if he would rather see his client remain detained in Tennessee, since the concern is that Abrego Garcia will get picked up by ICE and potentially removed to another country, Sandoval-Moshenberg didn’t directly answer.

“Two weeks ago, Mr. Abrego Garcia’s criminal legal defense team needed to essentially file a request postponing his release out of Tennessee just to give this court time to act,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “I’m confident that she’s going to rule to bring him to Maryland prior to July 16.”

Abrego Garcia’s human smuggling charges in Tennessee stem from a 2022 traffic stop, where he was pulled over by THP about 115 miles outside of Nashville, Tenn. for speeding and failing to maintain his lane.

During the stop, a THP officer noticed there were eight other people in the vehicle, and despite Abrego Garcia telling the officer he was heading from Texas to Maryland, there was no luggage in the vehicle, according to a DHS document, “leading the encountering officer to suspect this was a human trafficking incident.”

“All the passengers gave the same home address as the subject’s home address,” the DHS report said.

The report suggests the passengers were intentionally not speaking enough English to provide clear answers.

Abrego Garcia told the officer the vehicle belonged to his boss, and he was bringing the passengers in the vehicle to Maryland for work.

FOX45 News confirmed the owner of that vehicle is Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes. In June 2020, Hernandez-Reyes pled guilty to “illegal transportation or moving of an alien,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Southern District of Mississippi.

Hernandez-Reyes was involved in a traffic stop in December 2019 in Mississippi where there were nine people in the car. Human smuggling was suspected, according to the news release, and Homeland Security was notified. Eight of the nine were found to be in the United States illegally, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and after interviewing everyone, “it was determined that seven passengers were being smuggled from Houston, Texas, to different locations throughout the United States.”

During Abrego Garcia’s traffic stop, he was not cited for the driving infraction but was given “a warning citation for driving with an expired driver’s license.”

During a June hearing, witnesses on the stand in Nashville testified that Abrego Garcia was paid to transport people and smuggled weapons in the vehicle. The witnesses said he may have been making up to $100,000 annually. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty.

The Trump Administration was also dealt two blows when Judge Xinis denied their motions to dismiss the case entirely, arguing because Abrego Garcia was already back in the United States, the case was moot.

Attorneys for the DOJ argued there was nothing the Trump Administration could do to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, and therefore they were unable to comply with a previous order from Judge Xinis, because he was in El Salvador already.

However, the Obama-era judge noted that shortly after the DOJ attorneys claimed they couldn’t do anything, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Abrego Garcia was back in the United States facing a federal indictment for human smuggling.

“You had the power to produce him because you did produce him,” Judge Xinis said.

While DOJ attorneys during Monday’s hearing admitted in court that deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was an error, calling it an “isolated mistake,” Judge Xinis brought up several public comments from top Trump Administration officials throughout the case.

“For three months, your clients told the world that they weren’t going to do anything to bring him back. Doesn’t that matter? Am I really supposed to ignore all that? Isn’t’ that relevant,” she questioned.

The next hearing in Maryland has been scheduled for Thursday, July 10, at 1 p.m.

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