Federal Judge Orders Release of Salvadoran Migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia from ICE Custody

GREENBELT, Md — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration detention, ruling that the Trump administration has no legal authority to continue holding him without a valid removal order to any country.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland said Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to obtain a final order of removal — a prerequisite for deporting Abrego Garcia to a third country after a 2019 immigration judge barred his return to El Salvador due to fear of persecution.

“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” Xinis wrote. “No such order of removal exists for Abrego Garcia.”

The 38-year-old Abrego Garcia has been detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in central Pennsylvania since June, when he was brought back to the United States following a highly publicized deportation error.

In March 2025, ICE mistakenly deported him to El Salvador in defiance of the 2019 withholding-of-removal order — an action the Trump administration later called an “administrative error.” Xinis ordered his immediate return, and after months of diplomatic negotiations, Abrego Garcia was flown back to the U.S. in June.

Upon arrival, however, he was rearrested and charged in Tennessee with human smuggling based on a 2022 traffic stop. Those charges remain pending, but Xinis ruled Thursday that they do not justify continued immigration detention without a removable country.

In a separate 27-page memorandum, Xinis accused Trump administration officials of repeatedly misleading the court about plans to deport Abrego Garcia to African nations including Uganda, Ghana, Eswatini and Liberia, or to Costa Rica — options the government had previously floated.

“Respondents did not just stonewall. They affirmatively misled the tribunal,” the judge wrote, describing a five-month effort to extract basic information from ICE and the Justice Department.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration would “absolutely” appeal, calling the ruling “judicial activism.” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the order “lacks any valid legal basis” and vowed to fight it “tooth and nail.”

The case has become a flashpoint in the broader clash between the Trump administration and federal courts over immigration enforcement. Critics say the government delays and shifting removal destinations and withholding information represent deliberate defiance of court orders. Senior DHS officials reject that characterization and have accused Xinis and other district judges of exceeding their authority.

Abrego Garcia still faces the Tennessee human-smuggling indictment; a hearing on his motion to dismiss those charges on grounds of vindictive prosecution is scheduled for early January.

His attorneys hailed Thursday’s decision as a major victory after nearly ten months of litigation. “Mr. Abrego Garcia should never have spent a single additional day in custody after being illegally deported and then ordered returned,” said his lead counsel, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.

The Justice Department is expected to seek an emergency stay of the release order while it pursues appeals, likely to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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