A federal judge has ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member, ruling that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had no lawful basis to continue detaining him following a series of procedural errors.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, directed ICE to release Abrego Garcia “immediately,” writing in her opinion that he had been held “without lawful authority.” The court found that ICE detained Abrego Garcia to facilitate “third-country removal” even though no valid removal order existed.

During a November hearing, Xinis noted that the immigration judge who previously granted Abrego Garcia withholding of removal to El Salvador in 2019 never authorized his deportation. Despite that ruling, federal authorities mistakenly deported him in March to El Salvador—the only country he was legally barred from being sent to—and he was returned to the United States in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee.

Judge Xinis said ICE then failed to act on an offer from Costa Rica to accept Abrego Garcia and instead attempted to expel him to multiple African nations, including Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana, and Liberia. “Even if Abrego Garcia could have been removed, the government did not take any steps to remove him to the country which had offered to take him, Costa Rica,” Xinis wrote.

The court also accused government attorneys of misleading the tribunal about Costa Rica’s willingness to receive the detainee. “This time, when the Court sought information about Liberia and Costa Rica so to fairly assess the validity of Abrego Garcia’s claims, Respondents did not just stonewall,” she wrote. “They affirmatively misled the tribunal,” falsely claiming that Liberia was the “only viable removal option.”

Abrego Garcia’s case has drawn national attention due to his alleged MS-13 ties and the government’s handling of his detention. Judge Xinis concluded that ICE’s conduct violated due process, ordering his release from custody after months of what she described as “unlawful and deceptive” detention practices.

Original article
Add as a preferred source on Google