US judge orders 'immediate release' of Salvadoran man from ICE custody

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - A US federal judge ordered the "immediate release" of a Salvadoran man from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Thursday, ruling his detention was unlawful.

In his ruling, US District Judge Paula Xinis for the District of Maryland said Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia had been held for "third-country removal" without a valid removal order.

"The Court orders Respondents to release Abrego Garcia from ICE custody immediately," Xinis wrote in her decision.

"Because Abrego Garcia has been held in ICE detention to effectuate third-country removal absent a lawful removal order, his requested relief is proper," the judge said.

Abrego Garcia, a national of El Salvador, came to the US in 2012 at age 16 to avoid persecution by the Barrio 18 gang. An immigration judge granted him protection from removal in 2019.

Despite this, ICE agents arrested him in March and expelled him to El Salvador, where he was detained in the notorious CECOT prison. A previous court order secured his return to the US in June.

After his return, he was indicted in Tennessee on charges related to transporting migrants, which his lawyers call "vindictive and selective prosecution."