Federal judge lets injunctions against deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia stand
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis left in place two injunctions against the re-arrest or detention of Maryland resident and immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
In March, the Trump Administration sought to deport Abrego Garcia a second time, this time to Liberia and "in a matter of days." He was deported in March 2025 to El Salvador and returned in June due to a protective order preventing him from being sent to El Salvador due to fears of gang persecution. He had agreed to be deported to Costa Rica instead, but the government has not accepted that request.
"The government is unwilling to send Mr. Abrego to Costa Rica for unexplained reasons," Kilmar's attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said in a news release from the advocacy group We Are CASA. "Since they're not allowed to deport him to Africa, the case remains at a stalemate caused by the government. What the judge pointed out is that this demolishes the government's argument that what they're trying to do is deport Mr. Abrego Garcia from the United States."
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a February ruling, Xinis found the government had not shown "good reason to believe" Abrego Garcia would be deported to a third-party country in the reasonably foreseeable future, citing a lack of firm assurances from any receiving nation. She also noted the need for guarantees he would not be sent back to El Salvador, where an immigration judge barred his removal in 2019 over fears of gang-related persecution.
Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons told the court in March that the U.S. has been negotiating with Liberia and warned that abandoning those efforts could harm diplomatic credibility. He rejected Abrego Garcia's request to go to Costa Rica, arguing that the law does not allow immigrants to designate a country of removal years after their cases have concluded.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 6:38 PM.