WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego, whose wrongful deportation became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, ruling that the U.S. government never secured a formal order for his removal from the United States.
The order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland means that Abrego will at least temporarily be allowed to return to his Maryland home despite repeated declarations from Trump administration officials that he would never again be free in the U.S.
The judge’s decision to free Abrego marked the latest major development in a saga that began in March when Abrego was wrongfully deported to a prison in his native El Salvador and then brought back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges. His case has become a symbol of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, with Trump officials portraying Abrego as a danger to public safety and critics accusing the administration of trampling legal rights in its bid to deport millions living illegally in the United States.
Abrego, 30, has been held in immigration detention since August, when immigration authorities arrested him shortly after he was released from custody in his criminal case. Xinis found that he was entitled to release in part because an immigration judge had not issued a formal deportation order in 2019, when that judge barred his deportation to El Salvador because of a risk of gang persecution.
Xinis wrote that without a formal order, the Trump administration has “no lawful basis to detain and remove” Abrego and “his continued detention must end.”
Abrego’s lawyers asked Xinis to order him released, arguing that his continuing confinement was unlawfully designed to punish him rather than to prepare for a second deportation.
Lawyers for the Trump administration argued he could be legally detained for at least six months while awaiting removal. They maintained that the 2019 decision from the immigration judge implied that Abrego was eligible for deportation and should be construed as a formal deportation order.
The Trump administration is still attempting to deport Abrego for a second time, cycling through several African nations as potential destinations before Liberia agreed to accept Abrego temporarily on a humanitarian basis.
Abrego’s lawyers have said he will agree to a deportation to Costa Rica, a Spanish-speaking Central American country that previously agreed to offer Abrego refugee status. The Trump administration has not said why it will not agree to Costa Rica, citing only the need for continuing negotiations.
Abrego, a sheet metal worker who entered the U.S. illegally, had been living in Maryland with his wife and children until ICE arrested him and sent him to a Salvadoran mega-prison known for harsh conditions.
Abrego has also pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges accusing him of helping to transport migrants living illegally in the U.S. A federal judge overseeing that case has found a reasonable likelihood that the prosecution was “vindictive” and brought by the Trump administration in retaliation for Abrego challenging his March deportation.
He will remain subject to release conditions ordered as part of his criminal case, which include home detention and electronic monitoring.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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