Judge: Kilmar Abrego Garcia can't be rearrested during ICE check-in

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Maryland ruled Friday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a wrongfully deported Salvadoran immigrant, could not be rearrested during a check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis came one day after she ordered his release from ICE detention in Pennsylvania, saying the Trump administration lacked the legal authority to continue holding him.

Following his release Thursday, Abrego Garcia was ordered to return for a check-in with ICE on Friday morning in Baltimore, The Hill reported. It was during a similar appointment that he was initially detained in August.

Abrego Garcia addressed supporters who gathered outside the courthouse Friday morning.

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"I stand before you as a free man, and I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high," he said in Spanish, NBC News reported.

"I will continue to fight and stand firm against all of the injustices this government has done to me.

"Regardless of this administration, I believe this a country of laws, and I believe that this injustice will come to an end."

Immigration officials sought to deport Abrego Garcia to an African nation where he has no connection, despite his protection from removal to his native El Salvador.

Xinis granted his request to be released from detention since there was no lawful removal order. She said the administration's "conduct over the past months belie that his detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal, lending further support that Abrego Garcia should be held no longer.

Xinis said Agrego Garcia must comply with pretrial conditions in his human smuggling case. The administration has said he's a member of the MS-13 gang, which he denied.

Abrego Garcia illegally entered the United States nearly 15 years ago and drew nationwide attention after his wrongful deportation to El Salvador's notorious megaprison in March despite a protective order. Upon his return to the United States, the Trump administration sought to send him to an African country due to an order preventing his deportation to El Salvador.

This week in Washington

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., departs a closed-door meeting with Republican leadership about health care negotiations at the US Capitol on Friday. Johnson and House Republicans hope to hold a vote next week on their own health care program. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo