Kilmar Abrego Garcia released from criminal custody in Tennessee [View all]

Source: ABC News

August 22, 2025, 2:30 PM


Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported in March before being brought back to the U.S., has been released from criminal custody in Tennessee and is on his way to Maryland, an attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News.

The Salvadoran native has been in criminal custody since the federal government brought him back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges.

Once he is is released, immigration authorities will not be allowed to detain Abrego Garcia due to a ruling from a federal judge who last month ordered the government to return him to Maryland and blocked the administration from deporting him upon his release in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers said this week that they hired a private security company to bring him to Maryland.
In her July order, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the U.S. government "shall restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/kilmar-abrego-garcia-released-friday-criminal-custody/story?id=124874189&cid=social_twitter_abcn