A federal judge has ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Salvadoran national DHS has repeatedly identified as a violent criminal with MS-13 ties—ruling that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not currently have a valid removal order allowing them to continue holding him in custody.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama-appointed federal judge, granted Abrego Garcia’s habeas petition and found that ICE cannot lawfully detain him for third-country removal without a final removal order on record. In her ruling, Xinis wrote that the government “lacks statutory authority” to keep him in custody under existing law.
The decision comes after DHS publicly stated that Abrego Garcia “should not be on U.S. soil for long and won’t be,” citing what officials described as gang affiliations, smuggling activity, and a criminal history. DHS leadership also said he poses “significant public-safety concerns” and emphasized that he should not remain in American communities.
BREAKING: Paula Xinis, an Obama-appointed judge, has just ordered the RELEASE of illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia from ICE custody, claiming he was "re-detained, again without lawful authority." pic.twitter.com/XtuP9Jh9Hf
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 11, 2025
Abrego Garcia first entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2012. An immigration judge later granted him statutory withholding of removal, preventing DHS from returning him to El Salvador, but the written decision did not include an explicit removal order to any country—a requirement DHS says it needs to complete third-country removal.
Earlier this year, ICE attempted to remove him alongside more than 250 other migrants. After a separate court found that DHS had returned him to the U.S. without properly resolving his immigration case, he was brought back to face unrelated smuggling charges in Tennessee. He pleaded not guilty and was released under criminal supervision before ICE re-detained him in August to begin third-country removal efforts.
DHS has said that Costa Rica formally offered to receive Abrego Garcia with refugee status, while several other countries declined to accept him. The court concluded that without a removal order, DHS lacks legal authority to detain him for transfer to any country.
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin sharply criticized the decision, calling it “naked judicial activism” and saying DHS will continue to pursue all legal avenues to remove Abrego Garcia from the United States.
Under the judge’s order, ICE must release him under the supervision conditions previously established in his federal criminal case. The ruling does not determine where he may ultimately be removed but blocks DHS from detaining him again for removal unless a lawful removal order is issued.
