Judge Overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case Exposed As Dem Activist

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes is under the microscope after a controversial decision to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran illegal alien who is facing human trafficking charges — from jail on Friday.

Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member, was released from federal custody on Tuesday after Holmes rejected the government’s request to hold him in custody prior to trial.

The Salvadoran national was stopped in Tennessee while behind the wheel of a car belonging to a convicted human trafficker, which was flagged by the Biden-led Department of Homeland Security, in 2022. Several illegal aliens from South and Central American nations were in the vehicle at the time of the stop.

Abrego Garcia — who resides in Maryland claimed he was driving the illegal aliens from Houston, Texas to Maryland for work.

During an earlier hearing back in June, Judge Holmes sustained an objection limiting witness testimony regarding Abrego Garcia’s alleged sexual relationships with female passengers, including minors, who he was allegedly helping smuggle into the United States.

Given the controversial nature of her rulings, Judge Holmes’ well documented ties to left-wing activist groups and causes are under intense scrutiny. She donated $750 to Democrats between 1993 and 2007, including a $250 donation to Hillary Clinton’s  presidential campaign in 2008, Breitbart News reported.

LAWFARE: Democrat judge orders release of MS-13 human trafficker in the US illegally. Judge Barbara D. Holmes ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia without bond as he awaits trial and deportation. He will be living with the woman who obtained multiple restraining orders… pic.twitter.com/82L8fnRH8Z

— @amuse (@amuse) August 22, 2025

Prior to her appointment as magistrate judge in 2015, Holmes served as president of the Nashville Bar Association in 2002 and on its board of directors from 1999 to 2002, as well as a second stint from 2010 through 2015. While planning and hosting the National Association of Women Judges 43rd annual meeting in October 2021, she hired groups such as the “Song Suffragettes” to perform.

Holmes also served as the Judges Chair for the 2018 Legal Aid Society’s Campaign for Equal Justice. A number of Legal Aid Society branches have long spotlighted their commitment to DEI initiatives and have provided legal services to illegal aliens.

The group’s New York branch once published a webpage — complete with an image from the George Floyd Protests — highlighting their commitment to “fighting for racial equality.”

In a 2017 article highlighting Holmes as an Adams State University outstanding alumna, Holmes said, “I am also inspired by the new citizens I meet during naturalization ceremonies, by their determination, and especially by their appreciation for things that we too often take for granted, like the privileges of citizenship.” 

According to records reviewed by Breitbart News, Holmes is a registered unaffiliated voter in Nashville, Tennessee, who “appears to periodically vote in Republican primaries while at the same time casting Democrat ballots in other elections.”

Holmes’ ties to Democratic Party causes and candidates follows a disturbing history of left-wing judges being assigned to high-profile anti-Trump cases. In the most notable example, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg was assigned several high-profile cases seeking nationwide injunctions against the Trump Administration during the early weeks of his second term.

While speaking at a judicial conference earlier this year, Boasberg outlined plans to explicitly combat the Trump Administration and asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to assist.