An ICE agent assured that, at this time, there are no plans to deport Kilmar Ábrego García

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicated that, for now, there are no plans to deport Kilmar Ábrego García again. Since his return, he has been detained for the human trafficking case against him, and a federal judge paused his release before trial for fear he would be deported.

Garcia, who spent some months in the Salvadoran maximum-security Anti-Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT), recently claimed to have suffered "severe beatings" and "psychological torture" during his stay in the Central American country.

In this context, Thomas Giles, an agent who manages the 25 ICE field offices, spoke. He did so in front of Federal Judge Paula Xinis regarding the Salvadoran's case. "We don’t work cases not in ICE custody preemptively because our docket officers are worried about the cases they have now," Giles testified, remarking that "no decision has been made" yet.

Xinis ordered Giles to appear with "direct knowledge" about the deportation plans, especially if Garcia is released before trial.

As reported by The Hill, Giles testified that ICE already issued "an immigration detainer requesting custody if he’s released, which is expected to be honored. That would enable the transfer to happen in a 'secure environment' within the Tennessee jail," Giles said.

As for Ábrego García's history, he entered the United States illegally in 2011. While he received a deportation order eight years later, U.S. authorities determined that the 29-year-old could not be deported to his home country for fear of persecution.

However, he was deported to El Salvador in March of this year and sent to the maximum security prison known as CECOT. Subsequently, the Department of Justice acknowledged that this action was the product of an "administrative error," and the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" his return to the country. This process was completed on June 6.