The Department of Homeland Security is criticizing a judge’s order that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be immediately released from immigration detention and vows to oppose it. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ruled Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must free Abrego Garcia. The S.
A federal judge in Maryland ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from immigration detention on Thursday while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward, handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release Abrego Garcia from custody immediately.
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“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” the judge wrote. “For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia’s Petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”
The Department of Homeland Security was highly critical of the judge’s order and vowed to oppose it, calling it “naked judicial activism” by a judge appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. « 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.
