Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from US immigration detention, returns home

The Department of Homeland Security has pledged to appeal the latest ruling, slamming it as ‘naked judicial activism’.Published On 12 Dec 2025Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the United States, has been freed from detention on a judge’s order and returned to his home, according to reports.Abrego Garcia was due to check in with US immigration officials on Friday, The Associated Press news agency reported, a day after returning to his home following his release from an immigration processing centre in the latest twist in a convoluted case of deportation and detention targeting the Maryland man.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Kilmar Abrego Garcia to seek asylum in the US in bid to avoid deportationlist 2 of 4US judge rejects Abrego Garcia’s asylum bid after wrongful deportationlist 3 of 4US judge asks for assurance Abrego Garcia won’t be deported to Liberialist 4 of 4US judge orders release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration detentionend of listIn a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the US without any legal basis.The face of Trump’s hardline immigration policiesAbrego Garcia has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country by a gang that targeted his family. He originally moved to the US without documentation as a teenager.He then became the highest-profile case among more than 200 people sent to the notorious El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in the US.He was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March. A court later ordered his return to the US, where he was detained again, as immigration officials sought to deport him to a series of African countries instead of El Salvador.‘Judicial activism’The Department of Homeland Security slammed Thursday’s ruling and said it would appeal, labelling the decision as “naked judicial activism” by a judge appointed during President Barack Obama’s administration.