Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: An airstrike carried out by an Israeli drone targeted the Syrian Defense Ministry building in the capital, Damascus.
Local Syrian sources: A doctor was killed while trying to reach the government hospital in the city of Sweida.
Syrian local sources: The National Hospital in Sweida is currently out of service due to the siege it is facing.
Syrian local sources: Medical staff at the National Hospital in Sweida appeal for intervention after it was besieged and its electricity, water, and food were cut off.
Syrian Rejal al-Karamah (Men of Dignity) movement: What happened was a dangerous escalation that threatens civil peace and undermines the trust that authorities have worked hard to establish.
Rejal al-Karamah (Men of Dignity) movement: We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal attack on the city of Sweida and Jabal al-Arab by the Damascus government.
Maduro: We reaffirm that Palestine has the right to exist, resist, and live freely in a fully sovereign state with East al-Quds as its capital.
Maduro: Every bomb dropped on a Palestinian hospital, school, or home not only kills innocent lives but also destroys the foundations of world peace.
Maduro: What we are witnessing today in Gaza and throughout Palestine is not a conflict between equal parties, but rather a systematic plan to destroy a people and eradicate their identity.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at the Bogota summit: We raise our voices firmly outraged at the world's silence in the face of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians.

US frees felon to build case against falsely deported Abrego: WashPo

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Washington Post
  • 29 Jun 2025 14:44
4 Min Read

A migrant with a violent criminal history is granted legal reprieve in exchange for testifying against Kilmar Abrego, intensifying scrutiny of the US government's handling of immigration and justice.

Listen
  • x
  • Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Ábrego García of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, is seen at right alongside supporters during a press conference at the CASA Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, on April 4, 2025. (AP)
    Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Ábrego García of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, is seen at right alongside supporters during a press conference at the CASA Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, on April 4, 2025 (AP)

In a controversial move that has stirred debate among legal experts and immigrant rights advocates, the Trump administration has released a convicted felon, Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, from federal custody in exchange for his testimony in a high-profile smuggling case. According to The Washington Post, Hernandez is now the government’s central witness in its prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported earlier this year.

Hernandez, 38, has a history of serious offenses, including repeated illegal reentry into the United States, cocaine possession, and a 2022 felony conviction for firing a handgun while intoxicated in a Texas neighborhood. Despite facing what would have been his sixth deportation, Hernandez has been moved to a halfway house and granted legal permission to remain in the US for at least a year. Homeland Security Investigations special agent Peter Joseph confirmed at a June 13 hearing that Hernandez is also expected to receive a work permit.

“This is just further evidence of how the government is using Kilmar’s case to further their propaganda and prove their political point,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, in an interview for The Washington Post.

Hernandez's role in the prosecution

Related News

China backs Iran’s nuclear rights, calls for diplomacy over force

Sheikh al-Hijri appeals to US, 'Israel' to stop ‘genocide’ in Sweida

Hernandez owns the SUV allegedly involved in a 2022 migrant smuggling operation that is at the center of the federal case against Abrego. Prosecutors have named him as their “first cooperator", and his testimony formed the basis of a May grand jury indictment filed shortly after Abrego’s controversial deportation and weeks before his forced repatriation.

Abrego, who crossed into the US in 2011, fleeing gang threats in El Salvador, was mistakenly deported to the country's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center in March. The Supreme Court intervened in April, ordering his return. Despite that order, federal officials delayed his repatriation until after the indictment, raising concerns about the government’s conduct in the case.

Legal, ethical, and human rights concerns

Hernandez, who has at least three felony convictions, has been labeled a “snitch” by Abrego’s defense team. Legal observers noted his possible motivation to avoid being sent to the same prison in El Salvador where Abrego was detained, a facility known for its harsh conditions and alleged human rights violations.

Hernandez’s criminal record dates back to 2015 and includes arrests for public drunkenness, smuggling, and reentry after removal. In 2022, he was arrested for firing a handgun from a moving vehicle and sentenced to two years in prison. Upon nearing the end of a separate 30-month sentence for illegal reentry, Hernandez was approached by investigators and agreed to cooperate.

Judge Barbara D. Holmes, who presided over Abrego’s June 22 hearing, ruled that he should be released from custody, citing the unreliability of testimony from witnesses like Hernandez, whose cooperation is linked to their immigration status. The ruling emphasized concerns over the credibility of a witness facing deportation and seeking legal benefits in return for testimony.

Adding to the confusion, federal officials have given conflicting statements about Abrego’s status. While some sources in the Justice Department and White House said Abrego will remain in the country to face trial, a government attorney separately told a Maryland judge that immigration authorities are considering deportation to a third country.

Abrego’s attorneys highlighted these contradictions, calling on the court to maintain his criminal custody until a scheduled hearing on July 16, where his legal status is expected to be clarified.

  • United States
  • migrant deportations
  • Kilmar Abrego Garcia
  • Donald Trump

Most Read

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025
An Israeli soldier abandons an excavator during an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades. Arabic text reads "The moment the soldier fled", July, 10, 2025 (Al Qassam Military Media)

Israeli media rue al-Qassam footage, alarmed by fighters among troops

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after an Iranian attack at the al Udeid Airbase outside of Doha, Qatar, June 25, 2025 (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Satellite images show Iran attack damaged US comms dome in Qatari base

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

  • Analysis
  • 11 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Syrian government forces deploy at the Mazraa village on the outskirts of city of Sweida, where clashes erupted between Bedouin clans and Druze factions, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gulf-backed negotiations underway in Syria's Sweida to end clashes

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza
Palestine

UN: 798 Palestinians killed trying to reach aid in Gaza

A damaged car is seen at a field that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Sheet village, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, Wednesday, August 21, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah condemns Israeli Bekaa massacre, urges Leb. authority action

Palestinians walk next to the closed humanitarian aid distribution center of UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime cuts electricity, water supplies to UNRWA Gaza offices

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS