A federal judge on Thursday ruled the Trump administration lacks legal authority to continue holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia in an immigration detention center. He is fighting new deportation efforts following his wrongful removal to El Salvador in March and subsequent return to the U.S. over the summer.
In her ruling, Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court in Maryland ordered Abrego be released from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, citing a lack of a final order of removal for Abrego.
“His removal cannot be considered reasonably foreseeable, imminent, or consistent with due process,” Xinis wrote in a memo. She continued, “Since Abrego Garcia’s wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority.”
Thursday’s ruling is the latest in a case that has highlighted the Trump administration’s enforcement policies in pursuit of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
The case first gained international attention when federal government officials admitted in April they made an “administrative error” that landed Abrego in the notorious Salvadoran megaprison — known as CECOT — even though a 2019 court order barred authorities from deporting him to his native El Salvador because of credible threats he faced from gangs there.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed Abrego is a member of MS-13, a Salvadoran gang, who should not be allowed to stay in the United States. Abrego’s family and attorneys have denied the gang affiliation accusations, also adding he has not been convicted of any crimes.
Government officials have continued their efforts to remove Abrego from the U.S. under new third-country deportation policies. Court records show the Trump administration has discussed deporting Abrego to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Costa Rica.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Abrego entered “illegally into the United States” in March 2012. Abrego has said he fled “gang violence targeting his family” in El Salvador, court records show.
The government initiated removal proceedings against Abrego in 2019 after local police in Maryland arrested him while soliciting work outside a Home Depot and later turned him over to immigration authorities, according to court records. An immigration judge granted him “withholding of removal,” an order barring the U.S. government from deporting Abrego to El Salvador because of credible threats he faced from gangs there.
The Trump administration erroneously deported him to El Salvador anyway, prompting an order from the Supreme Court in April requiring the federal government to facilitate Abrego’s return to the U.S.
After much resistance from the Trump administration, Abrego returned to the U.S. in June and was immediately hit with human smuggling charges out of Tennessee based on a 2022 traffic stop for which he was not charged at the time. Abrego has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
