Federal judge calls deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia “wholly lawless”
A federal judge’s ruling on Sunday has deemed the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia as “wholly lawless.” Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old alleged MS-13 gang member, was deported to an El Salvadoran megaprison last month. However, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., where he had been residing in Maryland.
In her 22-page decision, Xinis stated, “Although the legal basis for the mass removal of hundreds of individuals to El Salvador remains disturbingly unclear, Abrego Garcia’s case is categorically different—there were no legal grounds whatsoever for his arrest, detention, or removal.” She continued, “Nor does any evidence suggest that Abrego Garcia is being held in CECOT at the behest of Salvadoran authorities to answer for crimes in that country. Rather, his detention appears wholly lawless.”
The Trump administration has faced backlash for the deportation of Abrego Garcia, with Attorney General Pam Bondi defending the decision in a recent interview. Bondi stated, “We have to rely on what ICE says. We have to rely on what Homeland Security says. They’re our clients, and I firmly believe in the work they are doing, and we’re going to make America safe again. That was President Trump’s directive to all of us.”
Despite reports of an “administrative error” in Abrego Garcia’s deportation, the White House has stood by its decision. Court documents reveal that Abrego Garcia fled gang threats in El Salvador and came to the U.S. in 2011 at the age of 16. He later married a U.S. citizen and worked in construction to support their family.
The allegations linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13 stem from a 2019 arrest outside a Maryland Home Depot store, where he was looking for work. Following his arrest in Baltimore on March 12, his lawyers’ complaint detailed that he was working as a sheet metal apprentice and caring for his 5-year-old son, who has autism and other disabilities.
The case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia has sparked controversy and raised questions about the legal basis for his deportation. As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how the Trump administration will respond to the federal judge’s ruling and whether Abrego Garcia will be brought back to the U.S. for further proceedings.
This article was written based on the original content from Fox News Digital, with contributions from Taylor Penley, Brie Stimson, Bill Mears, and The Associated Press.
