Abrego Garcia Wins Bail, Can’t Be Detained Again Without Notice, Judge Orders

A judge has ordered the release of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia from federal custody after he was unlawfully deported by the Trump administration to an infamous megaprison in his native El Salvador.

After the White House baselessly alleged for months that Abrego Garcia was a dangerous MS-13 gang member — with President Donald Trump going so far as to present a clearly doctored photograph of Abrego Garcia’s hand tattooed with those letters and numbers — a number of legal challenges eventually forced the administration to return him to the United States.

But upon his return, the White House immediately charged him with human trafficking, alleging (based on dubious and circumstantial evidence) that Abrego Garcia was illegally transporting undocumented immigrants across the country.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered that Abrego Garcia be released on bail from the Tennessee prison where he’s currently being detained. Xinis also stipulated that the administration cannot detain him again immediately after his release, which they have expressed interest in doing.

Xinis ordered the administration to “restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office” in Maryland, where he has lived for nearly two decades.

If the Trump administration wants to attempt to deport Abrego Garcia, they must give his attorneys three business days to prepare a defense for their client, Xinis added.

Despite Xinis’s ruling, Abrego Garcia will likely remain in prison for another month — a condition that his legal team requested in a brief on Monday to a separate judge, as it would allow them more time to determine whether they need to file for further protective actions against the Trump administration, which has frequently attempted to undermine judicial orders.

“Given the uncertainty of the outcome of any removal proceedings, Mr. Abrego respectfully requests that, should the Court deny the government’s motion for revocation, the issuance of an order releasing Mr. Abrego be delayed for 30 days to allow Mr. Abrego to evaluate his options and determine whether additional relief is necessary,” his lawyers wrote.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson derided the rulings in a social media post, echoing Trump’s frequent attacks on the judiciary over the past six months.

“The fact this unhinged judge is trying to tell ICE they can’t arrest an MS-13 gang member, indicted by a grand jury for human trafficking, and subject to immigration arrest under federal law is LAWLESS AND INSANE,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote, disregarding the fact that the allegations against Abrego Garcia are only backed by circumstantial evidence.

Notably, grand jury indictments do not automatically require a person to remain in federal custody or prison, as McLaughlin implies.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers praised the ruling, noting that the administration’s actions against him were alarming and likely illegal.

“A federal judge has now barred ICE from taking him back into custody in Tennessee, and ordered that any future deportation attempt must come with advance notice. After the government unlawfully deported him once without warning, this legal protection is essential,” one of Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a statement.