Mariana Bacayau

to face trial or just deport him.

Immigration and customs enforcement agents were parked outside the courthouse for most of the hearings.

A decision on where he would go pending trial dragged out for months because the DOJ said they had no control over Obrego.

what ICE would do and whether he would be deported before trial.

The judge also warned the Trump administration not to publicly comment on Abrego Garcia's case as if he had been convicted since under the law he's innocent until proven guilty.

The Justice Department plans to appeal, and DHS in a statement said this decision is, quote, naked judicial activism.

As for Abrego Garcia, he currently stands to be deported.

His lawyers are fighting a separate immigration case that will determine where he's deported.

Thank you.

Prosecutors charged Abrego Garcia with human smuggling based on a two-and-a-half-year-old traffic stop in Tennessee.

In his ruling, Judge Waverly Crenshaw found issue with the delay in prosecution.

Abrego Garcia's federal investigation began only after the Supreme Court ordered he be returned to the U.S.,

He also pointed to a senior prosecutor who resigned from the DOJ after his recommendation not to charge Abrego Garcia went unheeded.

For NPR News, I'm Mariana Bacayau in Nashville.

Prosecutors charged Abrego Garcia with human smuggling based on a two-and-a-half-year-old traffic stop in Tennessee.

In his ruling, Judge Waverly Crenshaw found issue with the delay in prosecution.

Abrego Garcia's federal investigation began only after the Supreme Court ordered he be returned to the U.S.

He also pointed to a senior prosecutor who resigned from the DOJ after his recommendation not to charge Abrego Garcia went unheeded.

For NPR News, I'm Mariana Bacayau in Nashville.

Tennessee's ACLU, NAACP, and Democratic Party have all filed separate lawsuits challenging different aspects of the map.