Court blocks immigration officials from re-detaining Abrego Garcia
A federal judge blocked Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from re-detaining mistakenly deported man Kilmar Abrego Garcia during his ICE appointment Friday morning.
A day earlier, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered ICE to immediately release Abrego Garcia, finding it had no lawful authority to detain him.
Abrego Garcia was released from immigration custody Thursday evening, and he was given an ICE supervision order that sets various conditions and requires him to return for an appointment Friday at 8 a.m. EST in Baltimore.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers rushed back to Xinis’s court, warning the Trump administration would attempt to re-detain him. They also raised concern about the impact of an immigration judge’s ruling in his case that came down later Thursday evening.
“For the public to have any faith in the orderly administration of justice, the Court’s narrowly crafted remedy cannot be so quickly and easily upended without further briefing and consideration,” Xinis wrote.
Xinis is an appointee of former President Obama.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who entered the U.S. illegally nearly 15 years ago, garnered national attention after he was wrongfully deported in March to a megaprison in El Salvador despite an order protecting him from deportation to his native country over fears he would be the target of violence.
His case became a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, a cornerstone of President Trump’s second-term agenda. The administration has accused Abrego Garcia of being an MS-13 gang member, which he denies.
Xinis’s new ruling is temporary. She said she wants to hold an expedited hearing as soon as next week.
In the meantime, the order prevents ICE from re-detaining Abrego Garcia or removing him from the continental United States.
2024 Election Coverage
“I stand before you as a free man and I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high,” Abrego Garcia told supporters in Baltimore through a translator as he arrived for his ICE appointment.
Xinis acknowledged the government may not intend to violate her rulings, but the judge still expressed concerns, noting an immigration judge handed down a new ruling Thursday night that purports to be a final order of removal.
“If, as Abrego Garcia suspects, Respondents will take him into custody this morning, then his liberty will be restricted once again. It is beyond dispute that unlawful detention visits irreparable harm,” wrote Xinis.
Updated at 8:48 a.m. EST
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Log Reg
