Immigration and Customs Enforcement released Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from detention Thursday, following an order from a federal judge.
Abrego Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador whom the Trump administration mistakenly deported there and then brought back to the U.S. to face criminal charges, was freed 15 minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline the federal government had to report back to the court that it had complied, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of his attorneys, confirmed to NOTUS.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled earlier Thursday that the Trump administration’s detention of Abrego Garcia without a removal order was unlawful. The Obama-appointed judge also called out the federal government for repeatedly defying her orders to produce information about what steps ICE had taken to deport Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said he would accept his removal to Costa Rica, but the administration pursued deportation to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana, and Liberia throughout the trial instead.
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“Respondents’ persistent refusal to acknowledge Costa Rica as a viable removal option, their threats to send Abrego Garcia to African countries that never agreed to take him, and their misrepresentation to the Court that Liberia is now the only country available to Abrego Garcia, all reflect that whatever purpose was behind his detention, it was not for the ‘basic purpose’ of timely third-country removal,” Xinis wrote in her Thursday opinion.
The Trump administration must notify Xinis about the status of Abrego Garcia’s release by 5 p.m. The Department of Homeland Security plans to appeal the decision.
“This is naked judicial activism by an Obama appointed judge,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “This order lacks any valid legal basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts.”
Later Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also referred to Xinis as an activist judge.
“Abrego Garcia is present in our country illegally,” she said during a press briefing. “He is a proven human trafficker. He is a proven gang member. The administration has evidence of that.”
A different federal judge overseeing Abrego Garcia’s criminal case has slammed Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for making comments outside of the court that could interfere with his right to a fair trial.
Abrego Garcia was deported in March to his native El Salvador despite a prior court order that he could not be sent there due to potential danger. The Trump administration then brought him back to the U.S. and brought criminal charges for human smuggling, which he denies.
Except for a weekend when he was able to reunite with his family, Abrego Garcia has remained in either criminal or immigration detention since his return to the U.S.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, the federal judge in Nashville overseeing Abrego Garcia’s criminal case, has pointed to the likely punitive nature of the Trump administration’s actions against him and is allowing the man’s attorneys to proceed with the claim that the government acted vindictively.
Crenshaw canceled an evidentiary hearing set to take place this week as the attorneys continue arguing over what evidence should be allowed in the case.
This article has been updated with comments from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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