Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be immediately released from immigration detention

Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be freed from immigration detention while he fights to stay in the U.S., a judge ruled Thursday, handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the United States without any legal basis.

''For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia's Petition for immediate release from ICE custody,'' the judge wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized the decision and vowed to appeal, calling the ruling ''naked judicial activism'' by a judge appointed during the Obama administration.

''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. The judge gave prosecutors until 5 p.m. EST to formally respond to the release order.

Abrego Garcia's attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said the judge made it clear that the government can't detain someone indefinitely without legal authority and that his client ''has endured more than anyone should ever have to.''

''At the same time, we are mindful of the government's past conduct in this case and will stay vigilant to ensure that nothing undermines the court's decision,'' he said in a statement.

A court later ordered his return to the United States. Since he cannot be removed to El Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. His federal suit claims the Trump administration is illegally using the removal process to punish Abrego Garcia for the public embarrassment caused by his deportation.

In her order releasing Abrego Garcia, Xinis wrote that federal authorities ''did not just stonewall'' the court, ''They affirmatively misled the tribunal.'' The judge was referencing the successive list of four African countries that officials had sought to remove Abrego Garcia seemingly without commitments from those countries, as well as officials' affirmations that Costa Rica withdrew its offer to accept him, a claim later proven untrue.

''But Costa Rica had never wavered in its commitment to receive Abrego Garcia, just as Abrego Garcia never wavered in his commitment to resettle there,'' the judge wrote.

Xinis also rejected the government's argument that she lacked jurisdiction to intervene on a final removal order for Abrego Garcia, because she found no final order had been filed.

Separately, Abrego Garcia is asking an immigration court to reopen his case so he can seek asylum in the United States.

A judge in that case has ordered an evidentiary hearing after previously finding some evidence that the charges ''may be vindictive.'' The judge also noted several statements by Trump administration officials that ''raise cause for concern,'' including a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case. ___