Extract from ABC News
Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case has become a controversial flashpoint in Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. (AP Photo: Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
In short:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is set to be released from immigration detention immediately, following a US court ruling.
A judge found he had been illegally detained after returning from wrongful detention in El Salvador.
The US Department of Homeland Security criticised the order and vowed to oppose it.
A US judge has ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia be released from immigration detention immediately while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward.
Mr Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and his case became a flash point for those opposing US President Donald Trump's immigration policy.
"Since Abrego Garcia's return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority," US District Judge Paula Xinis wrote.
She added that without a formal order, the Trump administration has "no lawful basis to detain and remove" him and "his continued detention must end."
"For this reason, the Court will grant Abrego Garcia's petition for immediate release from ICE custody."
The US Department of Homeland Security vowed to oppose it, calling it "naked judicial activism" by a judge appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
"This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts," the department's assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
Mr Abrego Garcia's lawyer was also contacted for comment.
Rallies have been held in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia since his initial deportation. (AP: KT Kanazawich, file)
Mr Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he originally immigrated to the US illegally as a teenager.
An immigration judge in 2019 ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family.
He was returned to the US under a court order. Since he cannot be deported to El Salvador, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries.
His lawsuit in federal court claims Mr Trump's administration is illegally using the deportation process to punish him over the embarrassment of his mistaken deportation to El Salvador.
Meanwhile, in a separate action in immigration court, he is petitioning to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum in the United States.
Additionally, he is facing criminal charges in federal court in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling.
He has filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming the prosecution is vindictive.
A judge has ordered an evidentiary hearing to be held on the motion after previously finding some evidence that the prosecution against Mr Abrego Garcia "may be vindictive."
The judge said many statements by Trump administration officials "raise cause for concern."
The judge specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Mr Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case.
AP/Reuters
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