A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, marking a major development in a case that has drawn national attention over wrongful detention and deportation concerns.
In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis stated that Abrego Garcia’s continued detention lacked legal justification. “Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” Judge Xinis wrote. “For this reason, the Court will grant Abrego Garcia’s petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”
The judge emphasized that the case required “judicial intervention,” noting that Abrego Garcia’s current detention did not serve any lawful purpose. Xinis wrote that his continued confinement was “to effectuate third-country removal absent a lawful removal order,” which, she said, was improper. The ruling further criticized the government’s handling of the matter, stating that its actions in recent months “belie that his detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal.”
Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador, had lived in Maryland with his wife and children before being deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison. The deportation occurred despite a 2019 federal court order blocking his removal due to credible fears of persecution in his home country. Officials under the Trump administration alleged that Abrego Garcia was associated with the MS-13 gang — a claim he has consistently denied.
He was returned to the United States in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty. After being released under his brother’s custody in Maryland while awaiting trial, Abrego Garcia was detained again by immigration authorities and transferred to a detention facility in Pennsylvania.
Following the court’s order, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin criticized the decision in a social media post, calling it “naked judicial activism by an Obama-appointed judge.” McLaughlin added, “This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts.”
Judge Xinis’s ruling underscores growing judicial scrutiny over immigration enforcement and detention practices, especially in cases involving prior court orders and allegations of wrongful deportation.
