A federal judge in Maryland has ordered ICE to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia immediately, ruling that the Trump administration had no legal basis to keep him in detention — even after he faced human-smuggling charges in Tennessee.
Judge Paula Xinis said Abrego Garcia was held illegally once immigration authorities brought him back into the country in June 2025. He had been mistakenly deported to El Salvador, and once he was back on U.S. soil, the court said ICE had no valid order allowing them to detain him again.
Xinis stressed that the government “cannot detain someone without clear legal authority.”
The Hill continues:
“Because Abrego Garcia has been held in ICE detention to effectuate third-country removal absent a lawful removal order, his requested relief is proper,” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis wrote in her 31-page opinion.
“Separately, Respondents’ conduct over the past months belie that his detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal, lending further support that Abrego Garcia should be held no longer,” Xinis continued.
She ordered his release to take place “immediately” and demanded the government provide an update by 5 p.m. EST.
Though Xinis’s ruling paves the way for ICE to release Abrego Garcia, he remains subject to the pre-trial release conditions imposed in his criminal human smuggling case.
ICE had placed Abrego Garcia back in detention in August while trying to find another nation willing to accept him, since El Salvador was off the table after the earlier wrongful deportation ruling. But the judge said ICE has no authority to hold him during that process, ordering his immediate release.
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IMHO, The judge is an enemy of America.
An enemy of America AND an enemy of freedom from illegal acts by criminals.
All these corrupt judges need to be held to account.
Ridiculous ! The leftist, rogue judges keep on the insanity, to order the illegal, garcia, to be let go. NO. illegals have NO RIGHTS. They merit at the least deportation immediately.
President Trump must simply defy these rogue judges and order ICE to detain that illegal before they ship him off to venezuela by parachute or a deserted island in the Indian Ocean.
Stop this insanity of the “judicial districts judges” over-riding the POTUS Exec Orders and policies!
I’ll use my default position here: if Paula ain’t willing to take him into her household she sure shouldn’t inflict him on society. Period.
Amazing! So, why doesn’t this judge let this scumbag live with him? Hummmm. There has got to be a reason! I can think of several.