Prosecutors tell judge government plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a country that’s not El Salvador

(AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a country that’s not his native El Salvador after he’s released from jail in Tennessee, a federal prosecutor told a federal judge in Maryland on Thursday.

Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn said the removal proceedings would be to a “third country.” But the prosecutor also said there are “no imminent plans” to deport Abrego Garcia and the U.S. government would comply with all court orders.

Guynn acknowledged the government’s plans during a hastily planned conference call with Abrego Garcia’s attorneys and U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers had filed an emergency request for Xinis to order the government to take Abrego Garcia to Maryland when he is released in Tennessee, an arrangement that would prevent his deportation before he stands trial.

“We have concerns that the government may try to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia quickly over the weekend, something like that,” one of his attorneys, Jonathan Cooper, told Xinis on the call.

Xinis, however, said she could not move as quickly as Abrego Garcia’s attorneys would like. She said she had to consider the Trump administration’s pending motions to dismiss the case before she could rule on the emergency request. The judge scheduled a July 7 court hearing in Maryland to discuss the emergency request and other matters.

It was unclear whether the government would seek to deport Abrego Garcia before he stands trial in the U.S. on criminal charges unsealed earlier this month. Deporting him before his trial would be a reversal for an administration that brought him back from El Salvador just weeks ago to face human smuggling charges, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying: “This is what American justice looks like.”

Abrego Garcia, a Maryland construction worker, became a flashpoint over Trump’s immigration policies after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March. He’s been in jail in Tennessee since he was returned to the U.S. on June 7 to face the human smuggling charges.