WASHINGTON—Two federal judges on July 23 ordered that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador subject to a high-profile prosecution by the United States, be released from federal custody and permitted to return to his family in Maryland.
Abrego Garcia, 30, was first removed to El Salvador on March 15 following the government’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, and detained in the maximum security prison Terrorism Confinement Center in that country—prompting opposition from Democrats and illegal immigrant advocacy groups—before being returned to the United States to face felony smuggling charges in Tennessee.
The U.S. government has indicated that it seeks to remove Abrego Garcia, once again, from the country and would detain him if released from criminal custody in Tennessee, where he is presently located.
As a result, U.S. District Judges
Waverly Crenshaw Jr. of the Middle District of Tennessee, who is presiding over the criminal case, and
Paula Xinis of the District of Maryland, who is overseeing the civil suit against the government over his removal, issued joint orders on July 23 that barred Abrego Garcia’s detention.
They restored his previous immigration arrangement, where he must periodically report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but is allowed to remain free.
“The Defendants SHALL NOT take Abrego Garcia into custody, including but not limited to custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”); Defendants SHALL restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office,” wrote Xinis in her order.
Abrego Garcia illegally crossed the U.S. border with Mexico in 2012 and was arrested in 2019 after being suspected of gang involvement. The Trump administration has said that Abrego Garcia was a member of Mara Salvatrucha, or “MS-13,” which it has designated as a terrorist organization.
Abrego Garcia was later ordered to be removed from the United States, but in 2019, he was granted relief in the form of a “withholding of removal” order that prevented his deportation to his home country of El Salvador, due to a “clear probability” of persecution.
During this time, he met and married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, with whom he fathered a child.
The order withholding removal remained active at the time of Abrego Garcia’s expulsion from the United States in March.
The initial reaction to Abrego Garcia’s removal saw protests and a flurry of legal challenges, including one that resulted in a ruling by the Supreme Court, which
directed the government to “facilitate” his release from custody in El Salvador due to the prior order withholding removal.
Abrego Garcia was later returned to the United States on June 6 and
indicted on two felony counts related to the smuggling of illegal immigrants.
Even as the order prevents Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador, he may be removed to a third country, which the Trump administration has sought to do alongside his criminal prosecution.
Xinis also required the government to provide at least 72 hours’ notice, excluding holidays, to Abrego Garcia and the court if it sought to remove him from the United States.
The Department of Justice and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
