US judge rules Abrego Garcia cannot be re-detained News
G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
US judge rules Abrego Garcia cannot be re-detained

A US judge ruled Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as the time period for his removal period has expired and further detention would violate due process.

Judge Paul Xinis for the US District Court of Maryland found that the government has a limited time period to detain someone subject to deportation. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1231, the government must remove someone under a removal order within 90 days. During that time, the “Attorney General shall detain” the noncitizen. A prior Supreme Court decision extended this 90 day period by another three months. If the noncitizen is not deported after six months, the court stated, the government may be constitutionally required to release the noncitizen from detention under the principle of due process. The court held that as this six month period has ended, ICE cannot detain Abrego Garcia again.

The Trump administration contested that the six month period has not elapsed. Although the initial order for removal was set in 2019, the administration argued that it was reset following an amendment in 2025. Judge Xinis rejected this argument, finding that it was not a substantive change.

Abrego Garcia has stated that he is willing to be deported to Costa Rica, which has agreed to accept him. The Trump administration is however now seeking to deport him to an African country. The court found the government has “made one empty threat after another to remove him to countries in Africa with no real chance of success.” Because it stated there was no likelihood of removal “in the reasonably foreseeable future,” the court found it was compelled to prevent ICE from detaining Abrego Garcia again.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national who entered the US illegally while fleeing gang threats. The Board of Immigration Appeals issued an order to prevent his deportation, given his fear of persecution. ICE nonetheless deported him to a notorious prison in El Salvador. After a controversial legal battle, the Supreme Court ordered his return. 

A Department of Homeland Security official criticized the order, writing in an email that “Judge Xinis will not be satisfied until he is authorized to live in the United States forever.” 

The court enjoined ICE from taking Abrego Garcia into custody and ordered the government to inform all relevant agents.

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