GREENBELT, Maryland, USA (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland has barred the Trump administration from placing Kilmar Ábrego García into immediate immigration custody if he is released from jail in Tennessee while awaiting trial on human trafficking charges.
Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to provide three business days’ notice if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against the Maryland construction worker.
The judge also ordered the government to restore the federal supervision under which Ábrego García had lived and worked in Maryland for years prior to being wrongly deported to his native El Salvador in March. That supervision had allowed Ábrego García to reside and work in Maryland for years, while appearing before ICE on a regular basis.
Ábrego García became a prominent figure in the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies after his wrongful expulsion to El Salvador in March. The Trump administration violated a 2019 order from an immigration judge that protected him from deportation to El Salvador because he would likely face threats of gang violence there.
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