Kilmar Abrego Garcia released from ICE custody after court order

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia has been released from U.S. immigration custody following a federal court order directing his immediate release, according to his attorney and newly filed court records.

The ruling was issued on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who found that immigration authorities lacked legal authority to continue holding Abrego Garcia. Officials did not immediately release the exact time of his release or the location of the facility where he had been detained.

Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national who previously lived and worked in Maryland under an order of supervision after being granted withholding of removal in 2019, according to the court. He remains under federal supervision in Tennessee in a separate criminal case linked to migrant smuggling charges.

In a 31-page opinion, Judge Xinis concluded that no final order of removal exists for Abrego Garcia and ruled that his custody could not be justified under the immigration statute that governs detention of noncitizens with enforceable removal orders.

The judge found that his confinement also conflicted with Supreme Court limits on prolonged immigration detention.

The opinion detailed that Abrego Garcia was wrongfully expelled to El Salvador in March 2025 despite his protection from removal and was later returned to the United States after orders from the Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit.

The opinion detailed that Abrego Garcia was wrongfully expelled to El Salvador in March 2025 despite his protection from removal and was later returned to the United States after orders from the Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit. The ruling noted that immigration officials subsequently attempted to remove him to multiple third countries.

Under the order, Abrego Garcia was released from ICE custody and returned to the supervision of the U.S. Pretrial Services Office on the same conditions imposed in his Tennessee case, including home detention with electronic monitoring and third-party custodianship.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from immigration detention,” his attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told ABC News. “We remain hopeful that this marks a turning point for Mr. Abrego Garcia, who has endured more than anyone should ever have to,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

The Department of Homeland Security criticized the ruling. “This is naked judicial activism by an Obama appointed judge. This order lacks any valid legal basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on social media.