Court Orders ICE Release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

CNN reports that a federal judge ordered the release of Kilmer Abrego Garcia from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody “immediately,” the latest development in the case of a Salvadoran mistakenly deported before being returned to the United States. As CNN observes, "Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation has been the basis of a fraught legal battle . . . . It has also come to embody the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and aggressive posture in trying to deport immigrants to far-flung countries."

“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” District Judge Paula Xinis wrote. She granted his petition for immediate release from ICE custody. Here is the latest court order.

A little background is in order. The U.S. government removed from the United States Kilmar Abrego Garcia without a hearing to a high security prison in his native El Salvador.  A long-time resident of Maryland, he was raising a family there.  An immigration court previously had found that Abrego Garcia could not be returned to El Salvador because his life or liberty would be at risk there.  He thus was lawfully in the United States.  The U.S. government initially admitted that Abrego Garcia’s removal was an “administrative error.”  However, it later insisted that he had properly been removed from the country because he is a member of the infamous MS-13 gang, a claim that Abrego Garcia has repeatedly denied.  Before his removal, he had never been charged with a crime in the United States, although he apparently had a few run-ins with the law.

In Noem v. Abrego Garcia, 145 S. Ct. 1017, 1018 (2025),  the Supreme Court found that the lower court order “properly require[d] the Government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador. . . .”   However, the Court directed the district court to “clarify” its order “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.” Id.  The Court’s last point represents a respectful nod to President Trump’s authority in the realm of foreign policy.

After a delay of several months, Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States and immediately charged criminally with transporting undocumented immigrants.  He was later released from custody only to be re-arrested and threatened by the U.S. government with removal to Uganda, a country with which he has absolutely no ties or connections.  Litigation, which the Trump administration sought to avoid through the quick removal of Abrego Garcia without a hearing, continued.

The incredible attention paid to his removal shows the extraordinary steps that the Trump administration is willing to take in its immigration actions that test the outer limits of the law.

Click here for discussion of the Abrego Garcia decision as well as other Supreme Court rulings on President Trump's immigration initiatives.

[2] Id.