Immigration and Customs Enforcement released Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from detention Thursday, following an order from a federal judge.
Abrego Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador whom the Trump administration mistakenly deported there and then brought back to the U.S. to face criminal charges, was freed 15 minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline the federal government had to report back to the court that it had complied, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of his attorneys, confirmed to NOTUS.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled earlier Thursday that the Trump administration’s detention of Abrego Garcia without a removal order was unlawful. The Obama-appointed judge also called out the federal government for repeatedly defying her orders to produce information about what steps ICE had taken to deport Abrego Garcia.