A federal judge has temporarily prohibited U.S. immigration authorities from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia back into custody—a significant development in a case that has drawn intense scrutiny amid ongoing debates over the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued the order Friday morning, just hours after Abrego Garcia was released from a Pennsylvania detention facility. The ruling was delivered as he arrived for a routine check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office, where his attorneys feared he might be detained again.
According to Xinis’ order, officials are barred from detaining him again until the court holds a hearing on his lawyers’ request for a temporary restraining order.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin sharply criticized the decision in an email to Newsweek, calling it “naked judicial activism” and asserting that the order “lacks any valid legal basis.”
The court’s move follows months of litigation stemming from Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador, where he was imprisoned in a notorious facility despite having received protection from deportation by an immigration judge in 2019.
Why It Matters
The case underscores ongoing disputes over the reach of federal authority in deportation matters and the broader implications of immigration enforcement during the Trump administration. Abrego Garcia—a Salvadoran national who has lived in Maryland for years with his U.S. citizen wife and child—has become a rallying figure for immigrant rights groups who claim he was targeted in retaliation for public criticism of his removal.
His attorneys contend that ICE continues to pursue deportation not on legal grounds, but out of retribution following his controversial removal and eventual return.
“This is a country of laws and I believe that this injustice will come to an end,” Abrego Garcia said Friday during a press conference, as supporters chanted, “We are all Kilmar.”
What To Know
Abrego Garcia came to the United States as a teenager to live with his brother, a U.S. citizen. In 2019, an immigration judge ruled that he had a “well-founded fear” of persecution in El Salvador, where gang members had threatened his family. While he was permitted to remain in the U.S. under supervision, he was not granted permanent residency.
Earlier this year, ICE deported him, and he was later imprisoned in El Salvador despite no criminal record. The Trump administration returned him to the United States in June after complying with a court order—but only after federal prosecutors charged him with human smuggling in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty and is fighting to have the charges dismissed.
ICE released Abrego Garcia from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center late Thursday, just ahead of a court-ordered deadline to justify his detention. Early Friday, he returned to Maryland for his scheduled check-in.
ICE check-ins are routine appointments for individuals allowed to remain in the country while their legal cases proceed. Advocates say these visits have increasingly resulted in unexpected detentions in recent years, particularly during the second Trump term.
What People Are Saying
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, via translator:
“I stand before you a free man and I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high… I come here today with so much hope and I thank God who has been with me since the start with my family. I will continue to fight and stand firm against all of the injustices this government has done upon me. Regardless of this administration, I believe this is a country of laws.”
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, attorney for Abrego Garcia:
“The government still has plenty of tools in their toolbox, plenty of tricks up their sleeve… We’re going to be there to fight to make sure there is a fair trial.”
What Happens Next
Abrego Garcia’s asylum application remains pending in immigration court, and he continues to face criminal charges in Tennessee, where prosecutors allege involvement in human smuggling following a 2022 traffic stop. Body camera footage from the incident showed a calm exchange with officers, who initially allowed him to leave with a warning.
A DHS agent has acknowledged that the smuggling investigation did not begin until after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador.
A federal judge is now set to review motions affecting his asylum case and the Tennessee charges, as well as arguments over whether ICE may attempt to deport him to a country other than El Salvador.
