Judge Orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia Be Released from ICE Custody Immediately as He Fights Deportation

A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the Maryland resident who was wrongfully deported from the United States earlier this year — from ICE custody.

Abrego Garcia, who was born in El Salvador and lives in Maryland, was mistakenly deported in March to a notorious prison in El Salvador under the Trump administration. He was brought back to the U.S. in June, only to be detained again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges, which he has denied. He is now contesting fresh deportation efforts by the Trump administration based on those charges.

In a court filing on Thursday, Dec. 11, obtained by CNN, district Judge Paula Xinis wrote that Abrego Garcia had “been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” adding, “For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia’s Petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”

“Abrego Garcia’s case demands judicial intervention,” Xinis wrote, noting that the government lacked a “final removal order” that would allow them to deport him.

The Department of Homeland Security pushed back on the ruling and vowed to challenge it.

“This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary, according to The Associated Press.

Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. in June to face federal smuggling charges in Tennessee, including one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. He pleaded not guilty to all counts, and his attorneys have described the charges as outrageous.

He was released from custody in Tennessee in August and allowed to live with his brother in Maryland while awaiting trial. But in September, authorities detained him again and transferred him to an ICE facility in Pennsylvania.

At the time, ICE told his attorneys that the move was intended to give his legal team “greater access,” according to reports from CBS News and WHYY. His lawyers challenged that explanation in a filing reported by The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, writing that “Travel to Moshannon is far more difficult for the members of the defense team based in Nashville, and is not appreciably easier for the New York-based members of the defense team, compared to Farmville.”

The defense team also raised alarms about conditions at Moshannon, citing reports of “assaults, inadequate medical care and insufficient food” at the facility.

Abrego Garcia, a father of three, has become a high-profile figure in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Trump administration has alleged that he was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation he has denied.

In a spring interview with ABC News, Trump incorrectly claimed that Abrego Garcia had “MS-13” tattooed across his knuckles. In reality, Abrego Garcia has four different symbols tattooed there: a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross and a skull.

Although Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. as a teenager without proper documentation in 2011, multiple outlets have reported that he was later granted a protected status because of fears he could be targeted by gangs in El Salvador.

He had been living in Maryland and held a work permit since 2019, according to Reuters.