Ximena Bustillo

Abrego Garcia denies those allegations and is fighting this and his immigration case across several courts.

Ximena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington.

Judge Palazzini of Maryland said that the government's arguments to keep him detained were, quote, troubling and that he had no current pending removal order to justify keeping him detained.

Remember, this was a man who'd been living in the U.S.

for more than 10 years.

In 2019, he

An immigration judge had ruled that Abrego Garcia could not be removed to El Salvador, where he had argued that he could be tortured or persecuted.

Then he was arrested and detained by immigration officers in Maryland earlier this year.

But the Trump administration deported him to El Salvador, sending him to a notorious prison there.

After months of public outcry, the administration brought Abrego Garcia back and immediately charged him with human smuggling.

in a separate case.

He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Now, government lawyers have also tried and failed to convince Ziniz that they are trying to deport him to a third country like Uganda or Eswatini, but they haven't done so.

So what's next in his case?

So the White House has said that it will appeal, and lawyers for Abrego Garcia called the order to release him an extraordinary victory for their client and for due process.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security called the order, quote, naked judicial activism.

Abrego Garcia has become one of the symbols of the Trump administration's fight with the judicial branch of government.

Democrats say that it's an example of the administration going too far.

Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Secretary, happened to be testifying yesterday at a congressional hearing on worldwide threats.

But Democrats took the opportunity to press her on domestic immigration enforcement and the following of court orders.