Judge orders release of Abrego Garcia from jail
By: Michael Collins
and Natalie Neysa Alud
..... A federal judge has ordered that a high-profile Salvadoran man should be freed from federal mitigation custody, saying the Trump administration had no legal basis to expel him from the country and misled her at a November hearing. [2025]
.....
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was detained in March [2025] and mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States in June [2025] but was arrested again on federal charges of human smuggling in Tennessee.
..... Xinis' order filed on December 11[2025] is the latest legal victory for Abrego Garcia in a case that has shone a spotlight on the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies. The Supreme Court previously order the government to facilitate his return form El Salvador, and federal judges in Tennessee rejected prosecutors' request to keep him in criminal custody awaiting trial.
..... It is unlikely to be the last word on the matter, however: The Justice Department will likely appeal the ruling.
..... Abrego Garcia, who enter the United States illegally in 2012, was living with his wife and three children in Beltsville, Maryland, when he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. he was among hundreds of alleged members of crime gangs MS-13 and Venezuela's Tren de Argua whom the government expelled to El Salvador on March 15. [2025]
..... Abrego Garcia was deported even though an earlier order prevented him from being returned to his home country. The Justice Department blamed his deportation on an administrative error but insisted he was a member of the MS-13 gang, which he has denied.
..... In her order, Xinis said it is "troubling" that the Justice Department continued to hold Abrego Garcia for months without taking steps to actually remove him from the United States.
..... The Trump administration is attempting to deport Abrego Garcia for a second time, cycling through several African nations as potential destinations. Lawyers for the administration argued he could be legally detained for at least six months while awaiting removal. Xinis said the government had no authority to send him to a third country without a legal removal order, which she said it did not have.
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At a November [2025] hearing, Xinis wrote, Justice Department lawyers informed the court that they had no alternative but to send Abrego Garcia to Liberia because Costa Rica rescinded its offer to hold him there.
..... But Costa Rica never rescinded its offer, Xinis wrote, citing news reports.
..... Because of the absence of a legal removal order and because the government's conduct raises question about its reasons for holding him, Abrego Garcia should be held no longer, Xinis said.
..... Tricia McLaughlin a spokesperson for the department of Homeland Security, called the decisions "naked judicial activism."
..... "this order lacks any valid legal basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts," McLaughlin said in a statement.
..... A lawyer for Abrego Garcia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
..... Contributing: Reuters