Judge Paula Xinis rules ICE detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia unlawful, orders release
WASHINGTON, DC: A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday, December 11, ordered the immediate release of Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, marking the latest turn in a 10-month legal fight that has stretched across courts and jurisdictions.
The case has focused on whether the Trump administration had legal authority to detain and seek third-country removal for Abrego Garcia, who was previously deported before being returned to the US.
Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the government failed to establish a valid removal order and determined that Abrego Garcia's detention could not continue. ICE had until 5 pm Eastern to comply with the court's directive.
Judge finds no removal order and cites unlawful detention
In her ruling, US District Judge Paula Xinis concluded the government had not obtained a final "order of removal," which would be required to deport Abrego Garcia to any third country.
"No such order of removal exists for Abrego Garcia," she wrote, adding that he had been detained "again without lawful authority" following his return from El Salvador.
The judge referenced Supreme Court precedent from Zadvydas v Davis, which barred the government from holding migrants indefinitely when removal is not reasonably foreseeable.
Xinis noted that without a final notice of removal, Abrego Garcia was "at a minimum" entitled to relief under that standard.
Throughout the case, Justice Department lawyers urged the court to dissolve an emergency order that had kept Abrego Garcia within 200 miles of the courthouse.
He was transferred from a Virginia detention facility to the ICE Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, where he has remained until Thursday's order.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal, as hinted in prior hearings.
Government attempts multiple third-country removals
Court records showed that the administration previously had attempted to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia, Eswatini, Uganda and briefly Ghana.
Judge Xinis said the government could not pursue any of those transfers without a valid removal order in place.
"You’ve raised all these arguments, and they all depend on me having a withholding of removal order," she said during a hearing last month. "You can't 'fake it' til you make it."
A Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that the "order lacks any valid legal basis," adding that DHS intends to "fight this tooth and nail in the courts."
She did not address whether ICE will comply with the Judge's directive to release Abrego Garcia.
Costa Rica has agreed to accept Abrego Garcia as a refugee, but DOJ attorneys did not provide a clear explanation in court as to why that option had not been pursued.
Instead, witnesses from ICE were unable to detail efforts to secure a third-country transfer that would comply with international protections against torture or persecution.
"They simply refused to prepare and produce a witness with knowledge to testify in any meaningful way," Xinis said.
