A federal judge in Maryland has refused to shut the door on a Salvadoran man’s legal battle against what he says was a wrongful deportation—despite the U.S. government dragging him back from El Salvador to face criminal charges.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and whose family includes American citizens, was deported earlier this year in defiance of a 2019 court order that explicitly barred his removal. Now back on American soil and facing charges for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants, Abrego has pleaded not guilty and is fighting on two fronts: criminal and civil.
But Judge Paula Xinis wasn’t ready to let the civil case go quietly. She ruled that unresolved questions still loom—particularly whether the government truly followed through on court orders to treat Abrego as if he’d never been deported at all.
Justice Department attorneys argued the case was now irrelevant since Abrego had been returned. Xinis wasn’t buying it.
“It’s chaos, and it’s chaos that can be avoided,” the judge remarked in open court, voicing irritation over the uncertainty swirling around whether Abrego could face deportation a second time. While a federal judge in Tennessee had recently ordered his release from criminal custody, the Trump administration has indicated plans to immediately detain him again and restart deportation efforts—possibly to a third country.
Adding to the legal tangle, the government has floated the idea of reversing the original 2019 ruling that shielded Abrego from being sent back to El Salvador, where he says he faces grave danger from violent gangs.
Xinis, unimpressed by the government’s shifting positions, ordered federal officials to appear in court Thursday to explain exactly what they plan to do with Abrego if he’s released. She pointedly reminded them that for months they made no move to bring him back, implying that their sudden urgency now deserves scrutiny.
“For three months your clients told the world they weren’t going to do anything to bring him back,” she said. “Am I really supposed to ignore all that?”
Abrego’s attorneys have amended their lawsuit to reflect his forced return to the U.S. and are now asking for stronger protections—starting with relocating him back to Maryland and guaranteeing his right to contest any future deportation.
As the Trump administration digs in on its hardline immigration stance, this case could become a legal flashpoint over the limits of executive power and the rights of immigrants already inside the system. For now, Judge Xinis has made one thing clear: Abrego’s fight isn’t over.
