A major update has been issued on the man who was 'accidentally' deported from the US to El Salvador by the Trump administration.
In March, the administration admitted it had 'mistakenly' deported Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Maryland father with legal status. The error only came to light after his wife spotted him in a photograph of detainees arriving at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the country’s notorious maximum security prison.
García left El Salvador more than a decade ago after facing hostility, then rebuilt his life in the US. An immigration judge granted him protected status in 2019, barring his return. He later settled in Maryland, where he met and married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, an American citizen.
The two are also parents to their five-year-old disabled son.
Advert
That order appeared to have been overlooked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement when, in mid-March, the Salvadoran national was placed on a flight back to El Salvador and sent to CECOT.
In a later court filing, a senior ICE official said García was arrested and deported 'due to his prominent role in MS-13'.
MS-13, originally known as Mara Salvatrucha, is an international criminal gang formed in the 1980s, initially to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other Los Angeles gangs.
García’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, has previously said he is not a member of MS-13, has no links to the group and has no criminal record in the US.
Following several months of appeals, García was finally released from federal detention in August.
The latest update in the high-profile case has seen a federal judge issue a fresh order blocking US immigration officials from re-detaining García, just one day after ordering his release.
Judge Paula Xinis said taking him back into custody would cause 'irreparable harm', acting quickly after his lawyers warned he could be detained during a routine check-in on Friday.
The move follows a rapid legal back-and-forth with an immigration judge issuing a removal order on Thursday evening, prompting García's team to seek an emergency restraining order.
Granting it, Judge Xinis wrote: "If, as Ábrego García suspects, Respondents will take him into custody this morning, then his liberty will be restricted once again.
"It is beyond dispute that unlawful detention visits irreparable harm."
Outside an ICE office in Baltimore, García said he was a 'free man' and would 'continue to fight' what he called government injustices.
"I stand before you a free man, and I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high," he said through a translator. "I will continue to fight and stand firm against all of the injustices this government has done upon me."
He added that he believes 'this is a country of laws and I believe that this injustice will come to an end'.
Late on Thursday, García was officially out of the custody of ICE with attorney Sandoval-Moshenberg, telling CBS News: "We remain hopeful that this marks a turning point for Mr Ábrego García, who has endured more than anyone should ever have to."
García returned to his Maryland home, but then was told to report to an ICE field office in Baltimore on Friday.
The justice department is expected to appeal, while separately pursuing human trafficking charges in Tennessee, which he denies.
The Department of Homeland Security condemned the ruling as 'naked judicial activism', signalling the legal fight is far from over.
Topics: US News, World News, Politics, Donald Trump, Real Life, True Life
Rhiannon Ingle