Federal Judge Orders Immediate Release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia From ICE Custody

A Maryland federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year and has since been held in U.S. immigration custody.

Judge's Ruling

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis granted Abrego Garcia's habeas petition, finding that the government has produced no valid, final order of removal that would authorize his deportation. Xinis wrote that, because officials lack the statutory authority to remove him to a third country absent a removal order, any attempted transfer is not "reasonably foreseeable, imminent, or consistent with due process."

“Although respondents may eventually get it right, they have not as of today. Thus, Abrego Garcia's detention for the stated purpose of third-country removal cannot continue,” Xinis wrote.

Background

The case has become a focal point in the Trump administration's aggressive deportation efforts. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March despite having received a legal immigration status in 2019 that should have precluded that removal. A prior court order barred U.S. officials from returning him to El Salvador because of credible fears he could face gang-related persecution there.

Afterward, the administration sought to remove him to several African countries—Uganda, Eswatini and Ghana—but none agreed to accept him. In October the government told the court that Liberia had agreed to take him and was finalizing arrangements; Abrego Garcia's lawyers warned that sending him to Liberia without ironclad guarantees it would not forward him to El Salvador would be unlawful.

Procedural History And Detention Concerns

Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States in June after a federal grand jury in Tennessee indicted him on two human-smuggling charges stemming from a November 2022 traffic stop. He pleaded not guilty; a Tennessee judge later ordered him released on bail ahead of a January criminal trial. Fearing immediate re-arrest by immigration officials, he remained in custody for weeks longer.

He was released from criminal jail in August and returned to Maryland, but was taken into immigration custody days later after an ICE interview in Baltimore. The administration at one point said he could be deported to Uganda; Abrego Garcia expressed fear that transfer to some third countries could put him at risk of persecution or lead to his return to El Salvador.

ICE official testimony in October indicated the government could effectuate a third-country transfer within 72 hours after a receiving country agreed to accept him, if a court permitted it. Abrego Garcia has said he would prefer to go to Costa Rica, which has indicated it could offer refugee status or residency, though the Justice Department said no arrangements had been made to send him there.

Legal Issue

At the heart of Abrego Garcia's challenge is a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision that bars indefinite detention of noncitizens when there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. His lawyers say he has been held in near-continuous confinement since March, including time in Salvadoran custody after the mistaken deportation.

Reactions And Next Steps

Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the ruling as "naked judicial activism by an Obama-appointed judge" and said the administration would continue to challenge the decision in court. Abrego Garcia remains detained at a Pennsylvania facility while his challenge proceeds, although Xinis has barred his removal from the United States pending resolution of the habeas claim.

The case raises larger questions about procedural safeguards for noncitizens, the limits of immigration detention when removal is uncertain, and the government's efforts to rely on third-country transfers to effectuate deportations.