Overview
- U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis concluded Ábrego García was being held without proper legal authorization following his return from an unlawful removal.
- The Justice Department must report his release status to the court by 5 p.m. Miami time today.
- The Department of Homeland Security denounced the decision as judicial activism and vowed to continue challenging it in court.
- ICE has sought to deport him to third countries after a 2019 immigration ruling barred his return to El Salvador.
- Ábrego García also faces federal charges in Tennessee, where a judge has ordered an evidentiary hearing on his motion to dismiss a human-smuggling indictment as vindictive.