A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration detention.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis stated in Thursday’s order that Abrego Garcia’s re-detention occurred “again without lawful authority” following his prior wrongful deportation to El Salvador. Xinis noted that, in the absence of a valid removal order, the government cannot legally deport him from the United States.
Earlier this month, federal authorities requested that Xinis lift a ban preventing Abrego Garcia’s removal to Liberia, citing assurances from the Liberian government that he would not face persecution or torture if sent there.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison despite a 2019 court ruling blocking his deportation due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration had claimed he was affiliated with the gang MS-13, a charge his family and attorneys deny.
He was returned to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty. After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, Abrego Garcia was again detained and is currently held in a Pennsylvania detention facility.
Judge Xinis had previously blocked the government from removing him from the U.S. in August, pending resolution of the habeas case challenging his deportation.