A federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia today.
Judge Paula Xinis said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement held him without a legal removal order. Xinis has ordered the Trump administration to provide a status update on his release by 5 p.m. Thursday.
Abrego-Garcia has been in U.S. custody after being returned by officials in El Salvador. He was deported on March 15 as the U.S. sent three planes from the U.S. to El Salvador, purporting that those on the planes were members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs. The deportations came after President Donald Trump enacted the Alien Enemies Act regarding the invasion of the United States by the Tren de Aragua.
PREVIOUS REPORTING | Judge to rule on whether to release Abrego Garcia from federal custody
Immediately upon Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. from El Salvador, he was charged with human smuggling and conspiracy charges in Tennessee – allegations he denies. He remained in custody in Tennessee until ordered released by the judge overseeing that case in August and returned to Maryland.
Just days later, however, Abrego Garcia was re-arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers while appearing at a routine parole check-in appointment in Baltimore.
In August, it was revealed that the government offered to deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica – a Spanish-speaking, Latin American nation – but only if he agreed to plead guilty to the human smuggling charges he faces in Tennessee.
He refused, and ever since, the government has not included Costa Rica as an option for his removal.
"This inexplicable reluctance seemed at odds with continued detention for purposes of third-country removal," Xinis wrote in Thursday's order.
Originally from El Salvador, Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. without proper documentation in 2011. In 2019, after a lengthy legal process in the immigration court system, Abrego Garcia’s request for asylum was denied by an immigration judge. But he was issued an order of withholding of removal, a document that prevents his deportation to his home country because officials believed he faced a likelihood of torture or violence should he return there.
