Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Deportation of Criminal Alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has stepped in to block the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a criminal alien with a long history of violent offenses.

According to CNN, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled Monday that the Biden-era courts will temporarily shield Abrego Garcia from removal while she considers a lawsuit filed by his legal team. She indicated her intention to extend an existing order preventing his deportation, citing “due process” concerns.

The decision came only minutes after Abrego Garcia was detained in Baltimore on Monday. His attorneys immediately filed a legal challenge, and Judge Xinis responded by declaring that the government is “absolutely forbidden to remove Abrego Garcia from the continental United States.”

Currently being held in a Virginia detention facility, Abrego Garcia claims he fears “persecution” and “torture” if deported to Uganda, CNN reported. His attorneys have pushed this narrative while President Donald Trump’s administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration and violent offenders.

Judge Xinis, who was nominated by Obama in 2015 and confirmed in 2016, said she will require written arguments from both sides and plans to hold a future evidentiary hearing with witnesses.

Notably, Abrego Garcia had already been deported to El Salvador earlier this year, only to reemerge as a figure championed by Democrats and the corporate press. The latest intervention by an Obama-appointed judge highlights the ongoing tension between President Trump’s effort to enforce immigration law and the left’s attempts to obstruct those policies in the courts.