A federal judge on Thursday ordered El Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be immediately released from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where he was being held in Pennsylvania.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said in her order, “since Abrego Garcia’s wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” according to ABC News.
HUGE. Judge Xinis grants the writ of habeas corpus and orders that the government “SHALL release [Kilmar] Abrego Garcia from ICE custody immediately.” https://t.co/pzarFkPtrx pic.twitter.com/vUlJ4BcQCk
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) December 11, 2025
The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia in March, concluding he had entered the country illegally.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in June that Abrego Garcia had been extradited back to the United States from a prison in El Salvador to face charges related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, when the illegal alien was driving an SUV full of passengers.
He was being held in a Tennessee prison awaiting his trial.
In August, Xinis ruled that the U.S. government “shall restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office.”
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin noted in a social media post the previous month, “The government had indicated it would take him into ICE custody in Tennessee if he was released pending his federal case. Judge Xinis has now blocked the Trump administration from taking him into ICE custody upon his release.”
BREAKING: Maryland federal judge Paula Xinis has just issued an order that will block ICE from arresting “Maryland man” Kilmar Abrego Garcia upon his release on bail in Tennessee for his federal human trafficking charges. Judge Xinis is also ordering a 72 hour pause on any effort… pic.twitter.com/JKBfwnPrB8
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 23, 2025
“After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he was again detained by immigration authorities and is currently being held in a detention facility in Pennsylvania,” according to ABC News.
“In her order Thursday, Judge Xinis directed the government to notify Abrego Garcia of the exact time and location of his release and to notify the court no later than 5 p.m. ET today,” the outlet added.
“The history of Abrego Garcia’s case is as well known as it is extraordinary,” Xinis wrote. “The Court will not recite all of it here, but only those events necessary to explain why Abrego Garcia is entitled to immediate release.”
ABC News noted, “Xinis in August blocked the government from removing Abrego Garcia from the United States until the habeas case challenging his removal was resolved in court.”
Democrat lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, have argued that Abrego Garcia was unlawfully removed from the U.S. by the Trump administration.
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador in April to meet with Abrego Garcia and call for his return.
Democrat lawmakers’ demands for the illegal alien’s return became more muted when significant evidence surfaced that he is an MS-13 member, engaged in human trafficking, and battered his wife.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
