Friday, December 12, 2025

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free

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Fri Dec 12 2025

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free.

The 30-year-old El Salvador native, who lived in Maryland, was ordered freed by a federal judge this week after becoming a flashpoint in the national debate about President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown.

Abrego Garcia, a father of three, has turned into a political football after his mistaken deportation to a prison for terrorists in March. He was returned to the U.S. in June, but the Trump administration, who alleges he is a MS-13 gang member, continued to pursue him and he was later rearrested by immigration authorities.

Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, said that he was "re-detained, again without lawful authority," and ordered his immediate release.

"Abrego Garcia's case demands judicial intervention," she said.

But this isn't close to the end for Abrego Garcia, who must still abide by strict pre-trial release conditions by another judge overseeing a human smuggling criminal case brought against him in Nashville. He must live under the supervision of his brother in Maryland and he cannot leave the state or residence unless for work, religious services, medical reasons or court proceedings.

"This is naked judicial activism by an Obama appointed judge," Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said in response to the ruling. "This order lacks any valid legal basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts."

Tiki Osiris cries in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in front of the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building during a protest Friday, June 13, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.

Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean, Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For more on what's happening with Trump's immigration crackdown, check out USA TODAY's coverage:

Coming to America?: New U.S. border rules could require selfies, 5 years of social media history

This nanny is a citizen: But her brother's deportation has made work unbearable

ICEBlock developer sues Trump administration over app's removal: Joshua Aaron, the creator of a popular app used to share information about local sightings of federal agents claims officials made "unconstitutional threats and demands against Apple" that led to the app's removal in October.

How Venezuela' opposition leader reached the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

María Corina Machado , who is on the run from President Nicolás Maduro's regime, collected her Nobel Peace Prize this week and the story of how the 58-year-old activist and industrial engineer got there is riveting.

Wearing a wig and a disguise, Machado boarded a fishing boat bound in the Caribbean and hopped on a private jet that arrived in Oslo, Norway. She's been out of the public eye since January.

Machado was barred from running in Venezuela's presidential election last year, despite having won the opposition's primary by a landslide. She went into hiding in August that year as authorities expanded arrests of opposition figures after the disputed vote.

As far as returning to her native land, that could be just as dangerous as the U.S. escalates its pressure campaign against Maduro's government. The Trump administration deployed military forces, which seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela this week.

"I came to receive the prize on behalf of the Venezuelan people, and I will take it back to Venezuela at the correct moment," Machado, dressed in a white suit, told reporters in Norway.

Thanks for reading! See you back next week with more stories of justice from across the country.