Kilmar Abrego Garcia can’t be deported until at least early October, judge rules

A federal judge has ruled that Kilmar Ábrego García cannot be deported from the United States until at least early October, extending legal protections for the Salvadoran man who was wrongfully deported earlier this year. The decision by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Wednesday comes amid allegations of retaliation by the Trump administration and ensures Ábrego García will remain in custody while his case is adjudicated. Judge Xinis issued the ruling during a hearing where she scheduled an evidentiary session for October 6, requiring Trump administration officials to testify about the government’s efforts to deport Ábrego García. She emphasized that the government is barred from removing him from the continental U.S. until the court resolves his habeas petition challenging both his detention and potential deportation to Uganda, a country with which he has no ties. Ábrego García, a 30-year-old native of El Salvador, entered the U.S. without authorization in 2011 as a teenager fleeing gang violence. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to El Salvador due to credible fears of persecution, but he was mistakenly deported there in March 2025 by the Trump administration, which later admitted the action was an ‘administrative error.’ After widespread outcry and a Supreme Court intervention, Ábrego García was returned to the U.S. in June, only to face criminal charges related to human smuggling in Tennessee. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail with ankle monitoring, but during a scheduled immigration check-in on August 25 in Baltimore, ICE took him into custody again, announcing plans to deport him to Uganda. His legal team filed an emergency lawsuit arguing that the detention and deportation threat were punitive measures intended to coerce a guilty plea, a claim Judge Xinis found concerning. She questioned the government’s failure to demonstrate that Uganda would be safe for Ábrego García and noted that conditioning plea deals on deportation violates constitutional rights. Ábrego García is currently held in a Virginia detention center under court orders to remain within a 200-mile radius of the Maryland court. The case has ignited debates over immigration enforcement, with accusations of political targeting and the use of third-country deportation agreements under the Trump administration’s policies. The October hearing will determine the validity of Ábrego García’s new asylum claim, based on fears of persecution, and could set precedents for how immigration courts handle similar cases involving wrongful deportations and retaliation allegations.