BREAKING: Kilmar Abrego Garcia Released by Obama Judge - Freed Despite MS-13, Trafficking, and Wife-Beating Allegations

A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has once again intervened in a high-profile immigration case, ordering the immediate release of El Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Pennsylvania ICE detention facility—despite mounting evidence tying him to MS-13 and human trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued the directive Thursday, insisting that “since Abrego Garcia’s wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” according to ABC News. Her ruling effectively blocks federal immigration authorities under President Donald J. Trump from keeping Abrego Garcia detained while he awaits trial.

Abrego Garcia had originally been deported in March after the Trump administration determined he had illegally entered the United States. But the case resurfaced earlier this year when Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in June that he had been extradited back to the U.S. from a Salvadoran prison to face charges stemming from a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop—an incident in which the illegal alien was caught transporting a vehicle full of passengers.

Following extradition, he was placed in a Tennessee prison while awaiting trial. But in August, Judge Xinis ruled that the federal government “shall restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office,” a directive that sharply limited ICE’s authority to detain him.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin highlighted the significance of the order at the time, writing, “The government had indicated it would take him into ICE custody in Tennessee if he was released pending his federal case. Judge Xinis has now blocked the Trump administration from taking him into ICE custody upon his release.”

After briefly being released to his brother in Maryland pending trial, immigration authorities detained him again—this time holding him in Pennsylvania. But Judge Xinis has now ordered his release once more. ABC News reported that “In her order Thursday, Judge Xinis directed the government to notify Abrego Garcia of the exact time and location of his release and to notify the court no later than 5 p.m. ET today.”

“The history of Abrego Garcia’s case is as well known as it is extraordinary,” Xinis wrote in her opinion. “The Court will not recite all of it here, but only those events necessary to explain why Abrego Garcia is entitled to immediate release.”

Earlier reporting from ABC News noted that “Xinis in August blocked the government from removing Abrego Garcia from the United States until the habeas case challenging his removal was resolved in court.”

Democrat lawmakers—including Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland—have aggressively pressured federal agencies over the case, claiming the Trump administration acted unlawfully in deporting Abrego Garcia. Van Hollen even traveled to El Salvador in April to personally meet with the illegal alien and demand his return.

Their tone changed dramatically once significant evidence emerged linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13, human trafficking operations, and domestic violence—revelations that have raised serious questions about why Democrat officials were pushing so hard for his release and return.