Federal Judge orders ‘immediate’ release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from ICE custody

Updated 12/12/25: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from immigration detention, his attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told ABC News. * * * A federal judge has ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported earlier this year and has since been held in immigration detention, finding that the Trump administration has held him for months without the legal authority required to continue his detention or remove him from the United States. The ruling, issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, granted Abrego Garcia’s habeas petition, concluding that federal authorities lacked the