Baltimore, Maryland - A federal judge on Friday blocked US immigration agents from re-detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia after she ordered his release earlier this week.
The judge issued the order as Abrego Garcia attended an appointment at the ICE field office in Baltimore after his release from an immigration detention facility in Pennsylvania.
His lawyers sent an urgent request warning that ICE officers could try to take him back into custody during the scheduled appointment.
US District Judge Paula Xinis blocked federal authorities from re-detaining Abrego Garcia until a hearing is held on a motion for a temporary restraining order, adding that he is "likely to succeed on the merits of any further request for relief from ICE detention."
Abrego Garcia exited the appointment without being re-detained, to be greeted by a cheering crowd of supporters.
"I stand before you as a free man, and I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high," Abrego Garcia told the crowd through a translator.
"I come here today with so much hope, and I thank God who has been with me since the start with my family."
Kilmar Abrego Garcia vows to "continue to fight"
Abrego Garcia is a 30-year-old Salvadoran national who has lived in Maryland for years. His wife and children are American citizens.
An immigration judge in 2019 granted him protected legal status barring his deportation back to El Salvador due to risk of harm by gangs.
The Trump administration has, nevertheless, tormented Abrego Garcia for months, accusing him – without providing proof – of being an MS-13 gang member.
Last March, the government wrongfully deported Abrego Garcia to a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador, where he says he suffered torture and abuse. He was returned to the US in June and was immediately arrested on human smuggling charges in Tennessee – to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The Trump administration has since sought to deport him to various African countries.
Abrego Garcia's case carries on after Xinis concluded in her ruling on Thursday that he has been held in ICE detention "absent a lawful removal order."
"I stand here today with my held up high, and I will continue to fight and stand firm against all of the injustices this government has done," Abrego Garcia said on Friday.
"Regardless of this administration, I believe this is a country of laws, and I believe this injustice will come to its end."