U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. on 3 July ordered Trump-administration officials, including the Justice and Homeland Security departments, to comply with Local Criminal Rule 2.01, which prohibits public statements that could prejudice a Tennessee jury in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. “All counsel are expected to comply with the Local Rules of this Court,” the judge wrote, effectively imposing a gag on further commentary from government agencies and their employees. The ruling grants a motion filed by Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, who argued that repeated public characterisations of their client as a gang member and violent criminal risked tainting the jury pool. Crenshaw cited the court’s obligation to safeguard Abrego Garcia’s Sixth-Amendment right to an impartial trial and warned that any continued extrajudicial remarks could undermine the proceedings. Abrego Garcia was indicted on 21 May for conspiracy and unlawful transportation of undocumented migrants after a 2022 traffic stop involving nine passengers. The 32-year-old was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March despite a 2019 immigration order barring his removal; the Supreme Court directed the government to return him to the United States on 10 April, and he was taken into federal custody in Nashville on 6 June. The order does not affect Abrego Garcia’s detention status. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes last month approved his pre-trial release, finding the government had not shown he posed an irremediable danger, although U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to keep him in custody pending immigration proceedings. A separate hearing on 16 July will review his custody conditions and set the timetable for the criminal case.