US federal judge orders release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from ICE detention

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from an immigration detention centre in Pennsylvania following an order from a federal judge issued on Thursday, according to his attorney's office.

Abrego Garcia's attorney confirmed he was released just before 5 pm Thursday and told The Associated Press he plans to return to Maryland, where he has an American wife and child and where he has lived for years after originally immigrating to the US illegally as a teenager. Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said he is not sure what comes next, but he is prepared to defend his client against further deportation efforts.

US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland earlier Thursday ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the United States without any legal basis. The judge gave prosecutors until 5 pm EST to formally respond to the release order.

The ruling marked a major victory for the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

"For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia's Petition for immediate release from ICE custody," the judge wrote.

He had been held at Moshannon Valley Processing Centre about 185 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh.

"The government still has plenty of tools in their toolbox, plenty of tricks up their sleeve," Sandoval-Moshenberg said, adding he fully expects the government to again take steps to deport his client. "We're going to be there to fight to make sure there is a fair trial."  The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticised the judge's decision and vowed to appeal, calling the ruling "naked judicial activism" by a judge appointed during the Obama administration.

"This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts," said Tricia McLaughlin, the department's assistant secretary.

Sandoval-Moshenberg said the judge made it clear that the government cannot detain someone indefinitely without legal authority and that his client "has endured more than anyone should ever have to."  Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national with an American wife and child, has lived in Maryland for years but entered the US illegally as a teenager. An immigration judge ruled in 2019 that he could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. When he was mistakenly sent there in March, his case became a rallying point for those who oppose President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement actions.

A court later ordered his return to the United States. Since he cannot be removed to El Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. His federal suit claims the Trump administration is illegally using the removal process to punish Abrego Garcia for the public embarrassment caused by his deportation.

In her order releasing Abrego Garcia, Xinis wrote that federal authorities "did not just stonewall" the court, "They affirmatively misled the tribunal." The judge was referencing the successive list of four African countries that officials had sought to remove Abrego Garcia seemingly without commitments from those countries, as well as officials' affirmations that Costa Rica withdrew its offer to accept him, a claim later proven untrue.

"But Costa Rica had never wavered in its commitment to receive Abrego Garcia, just as Abrego Garcia never wavered in his commitment to resettle there," the judge wrote.

Xinis also rejected the government's argument that she lacked jurisdiction to intervene on a final removal order for Abrego Garcia, because she found no final order had been filed.

Separately, Abrego Garcia is asking an immigration court to reopen his case so he can seek asylum in the United States.

He is also criminally charged in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling. He has asked the federal court to dismiss the case, arguing the prosecution is vindictive. His defense attorney in Tennessee, Sean Hecker, declined to comment.

A judge in that case has ordered an evidentiary hearing after previously finding some evidence that the charges "may be vindictive." The judge also noted several statements by Trump administration officials that "raise cause for concern," including a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case.