Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, defended the Trump administration’s “proper” deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador who was held in the Central American country until last week, when he was transported to Nashville to face human smuggling charges.
In April, The Star obtained the final deportation order for Abrego Garcia issued by former U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones in 2019.
The order also granted “withholding of removal” relief, showing the judge appeared to prohibit immigration authorities from deporting Abrego Garcia to Guatemala, not to El Salvador.
On Monday’s edition of his talk radio show, Leahy emphasized how the 2019 immigration judge’s order prohibited Abrego Garcia’s removal to Guatemala, not El Salvador.
Citing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s concurring opinion in the Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling directing the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia in which she stated that Garcia was protected from removal to El Salvador due to a “clear probability of future persecution,” Leahy said that this information is intentionally false.
“That’s not true…and is intentionally false by Justice Sotomayor,” Leahy said.
“What did Judge David M. Jones say in that withholding of removal order from 2019? I will quote it exactly. He prohibited the removal of Abrego Garcia to Guatemala, not El Salvador, because he ‘demonstrated that Guatemala’s authorities were and would be unable or unwilling to protect him.’ That is what the order says,” Leahy added.
Leahy argued that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was lawful, citing the 2019 final order of deportation, which, as he further stressed, allowed the government to send him to any country other than Guatemala.
He said Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador via Honduras was within legal bounds.
“If his request said Guatemala, there was no violation of due process for Abrego Garcia when he was deported in March because that 2019 final order of deportation allowed the government to send him to any country other than Guatemala, and he ended up in El Salvador by way of Honduras. That’s the trip that he took,” Leahy said.
Leahy also pointed to President Donald Trump’s January 2025 declaration of MS-13 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which he asserted disqualifies Abrego Garcia from protection under U.S. immigration law.
He specifically referenced 8 U.S. Code § 1231(b)(3), which permits the termination of withholding of removal based on changed circumstances, arguing that this policy shift rendered Abrego Garcia’s prior protection invalid.
“Even if Abrego Garcia’s request for withholding of removal due to potential persecution said El Salvador…there was still no violation of due process for Abrego Garcia because here’s why: the circumstances changed on January 20th, 2025, when President Trump declared MS-13 a Foreign Terrorist Organization. As such, those 2019 court rulings that Abrego Garcia was an MS-13 gang member disqualified him from protection and no additional hearing was required,” Leahy said.
“The Supreme Court has ruled due process for non-citizens is flexible and context dependent, and national security threats reduce procedural requirements,” he added.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
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– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/Ybrn3HiK6f— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) June 9, 2025
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
