Judge to Decide if Mistakenly Deported Salvadoran Returns to ICE Custody

A federal judge in Maryland is hearing arguments today on whether Kilmar Ábrego García, the Salvadoran national whose erroneous deportation this year sparked federal litigation, should be returned to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after a Dec. 11 release order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.

The case traces to immigration proceedings in 2019, where a judge granted withholding of removal that barred deportation to El Salvador. Court filings show that despite apparent protections, Abrego García was mistakenly flown to El Salvador and held in that country’s CECOT mega prison earlier this year. His wife filed suit on March 24, 2025 seeking court intervention to compel the United States to secure his return. Those civil proceedings have been litigated in Maryland and touched the U.S. Supreme Court before the matter returned to Judge Xinis for further resolution.

On June 6, federal authorities returned Abrego García to the United States. The Department of Justice then announced an indictment in Tennessee charging him with conspiracy and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain. He was jailed in Tennessee after his return, but a federal judge there later allowed his release pending trial under conditions intended to guard against immediate removal. In October, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw concluded that there was a realistic likelihood the Tennessee prosecution was motivated by retaliation tied to Abrego García’s earlier successful challenge to his deportation.

Judge Xinis’s Dec. 11 order found that immigration authorities had held Abrego García without legal authority because the immigration judge who conducted his 2019 hearing did not issue a valid final removal order. Xinis concluded that without a final removal order, the government lacked lawful authority to detain or deport him and ordered his release from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. Following that order, Abrego García was seen leaving an ICE check in at the ICE Baltimore Field Office.

Federal authorities sought to re detain Abrego García at a subsequent check in, but a federal judge temporarily blocked re detention while the Maryland court considered competing filings. As of the hearing today, he has been free from ICE custody for just over a week, and the government has indicated it is exploring removal options, including prior statements about deporting him to a third country.

Immigrant advocacy organizations have framed the Dec. 11 order as a vindication of procedural protections and a brake on administrative error. Lydia Walther Rodriguez, chief of organizing and leadership at CASA, called the Dec. 11 release "a moment of joy and relief," saying Abrego García "finally gets to return home to his family."

Beyond this individual case, the litigation raises broader questions about institutional accountability, the adequacy of administrative safeguards that are meant to prevent wrongful removals, and the interaction between civil rights litigation and criminal prosecution. Judges will now weigh not only the technical contours of removal authority but also the practical consequences of returning a man the district court found had been deprived of lawful protection.

The Maryland court’s ruling will determine immediate custody and could influence how agencies document removal orders, notify counsel and coordinate with courts in complex cross jurisdictional cases. Observers say the decision will be watched closely by immigrant rights groups, federal prosecutors and policy makers concerned with restoring trust in a system that has shown vulnerabilities when oversight lapses.