A federal judge has ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia after a 90-day detention period expired without a viable deportation plan. The Salvadoran national, who has lived in Maryland for years and has an American wife and child, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year before being returned to the U.S. under court order.

Judge Paula Xinis criticized the government's attempts to deport Abrego Garcia to various African countries, calling them "empty threats" with no real chance of success. The Department of Homeland Security had proposed sending him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana, and Liberia, but the judge noted officials had "purposely ignored" Costa Rica, which has consistently offered to accept him as a refugee.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denounced the ruling, arguing that due process would have already resulted in Abrego Garcia's deportation. The case has become a focal point in the immigration debate, with Abrego Garcia facing human smuggling charges in Tennessee that he has pleaded not guilty to. His attorney argued that immigration detention must facilitate deportation, not serve as indefinite punishment.