Abrego Garcia to remain free from ICE custody as judge OKs travel for Tennessee hearing
Every delay has consequences.
A federal judge in Maryland ruled Tuesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia cannot be taken back into immigration custody while his criminal case proceeds, concluding that the Trump administration has shown an inability to secure transfer to a third country for the reasonably foreseeable future.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued an injunction barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement from re-detaining Abrego Garcia, extending protections she first put in place through an emergency order in December 2025. The ruling allows Abrego Garcia to remain free from ICE custody under conditions tied to a separate federal criminal case in Tennessee, where prosecutors have charged him with human smuggling.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at the U.S. District Court District of Maryland, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Greenbelt, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
In a 10-page decision, Xinis wrote that the government had failed to demonstrate a sufficient likelihood that Abrego Garcia could soon be removed from the United States, a key factor in justifying immigration detention during removal proceedings.
“The court easily concludes that there is no ‘good reason to believe’ removal is likely in the reasonably foreseeable future,” she wrote, adding that officials “have done nothing to show that Abrego Garcia’s continued detention in ICE custody is consistent with due process.”
The latest order is subject to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia.
Handling his Tennessee human smuggling case is U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, also an Obama appointee, who previously allowed him to stay out of U.S. Marshal’s custody pending trial in July. Xinis’s order permits Abrego Garcia’s travel necessary for court appearances related to that prosecution.
Abrego Garcia, who came to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador during the Obama administration in 2011 and later settled in Maryland, has been residing in the state since his release from immigration detention late last year, subject to strict supervision requirements set by the Tennessee court.
His limited release conditions stipulate that he must reside with his brother and may leave home only for work, religious services, medical needs, or court obligations. Travel outside Maryland requires judicial approval.
The case stems from a complex legal mess that began last March, when Abrego Garcia was deported from Maryland to El …
Every delay has consequences.
A federal judge in Maryland ruled Tuesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia cannot be taken back into immigration custody while his criminal case proceeds, concluding that the Trump administration has shown an inability to secure transfer to a third country for the reasonably foreseeable future.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued an injunction barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement from re-detaining Abrego Garcia, extending protections she first put in place through an emergency order in December 2025. The ruling allows Abrego Garcia to remain free from ICE custody under conditions tied to a separate federal criminal case in Tennessee, where prosecutors have charged him with human smuggling.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at the U.S. District Court District of Maryland, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Greenbelt, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
In a 10-page decision, Xinis wrote that the government had failed to demonstrate a sufficient likelihood that Abrego Garcia could soon be removed from the United States, a key factor in justifying immigration detention during removal proceedings.
“The court easily concludes that there is no ‘good reason to believe’ removal is likely in the reasonably foreseeable future,” she wrote, adding that officials “have done nothing to show that Abrego Garcia’s continued detention in ICE custody is consistent with due process.”
The latest order is subject to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia.
Handling his Tennessee human smuggling case is U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, also an Obama appointee, who previously allowed him to stay out of U.S. Marshal’s custody pending trial in July. Xinis’s order permits Abrego Garcia’s travel necessary for court appearances related to that prosecution.
Abrego Garcia, who came to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador during the Obama administration in 2011 and later settled in Maryland, has been residing in the state since his release from immigration detention late last year, subject to strict supervision requirements set by the Tennessee court.
His limited release conditions stipulate that he must reside with his brother and may leave home only for work, religious services, medical needs, or court obligations. Travel outside Maryland requires judicial approval.
The case stems from a complex legal mess that began last March, when Abrego Garcia was deported from Maryland to El …
Abrego Garcia to remain free from ICE custody as judge OKs travel for Tennessee hearing
Every delay has consequences.
A federal judge in Maryland ruled Tuesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia cannot be taken back into immigration custody while his criminal case proceeds, concluding that the Trump administration has shown an inability to secure transfer to a third country for the reasonably foreseeable future.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued an injunction barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement from re-detaining Abrego Garcia, extending protections she first put in place through an emergency order in December 2025. The ruling allows Abrego Garcia to remain free from ICE custody under conditions tied to a separate federal criminal case in Tennessee, where prosecutors have charged him with human smuggling.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at the U.S. District Court District of Maryland, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Greenbelt, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
In a 10-page decision, Xinis wrote that the government had failed to demonstrate a sufficient likelihood that Abrego Garcia could soon be removed from the United States, a key factor in justifying immigration detention during removal proceedings.
“The court easily concludes that there is no ‘good reason to believe’ removal is likely in the reasonably foreseeable future,” she wrote, adding that officials “have done nothing to show that Abrego Garcia’s continued detention in ICE custody is consistent with due process.”
The latest order is subject to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia.
Handling his Tennessee human smuggling case is U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, also an Obama appointee, who previously allowed him to stay out of U.S. Marshal’s custody pending trial in July. Xinis’s order permits Abrego Garcia’s travel necessary for court appearances related to that prosecution.
Abrego Garcia, who came to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador during the Obama administration in 2011 and later settled in Maryland, has been residing in the state since his release from immigration detention late last year, subject to strict supervision requirements set by the Tennessee court.
His limited release conditions stipulate that he must reside with his brother and may leave home only for work, religious services, medical needs, or court obligations. Travel outside Maryland requires judicial approval.
The case stems from a complex legal mess that began last March, when Abrego Garcia was deported from Maryland to El …
