Washington, Dec 22 (EFE). - A U.S. federal judge ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot re-arrest Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego García, who has been on a true odyssey since the Trump government mistakenly deported him to a maximum-security prison in his home country. During a hearing in Maryland, District Judge Paula Xinis ruled in favor of Abrego García remaining free on bail during the holidays. Abrego García's lawyers had requested a temporary restraining order to prevent ICE from re-arresting him while the administration continues to attempt to deport him to third countries, such as Liberia. Abrego García, who lived in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March of this year, under the Trump government's argument that he was a gang member, to the Terrorism Control Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, despite a 2019 order that prevented sending him to his country of origin. In June, he was returned to the U.S., but to face a human trafficking charge brought by the Federal Administration, which he denies. It was then that Xinis granted him bail pending trial, which will be held in Tennessee in January. On December 11, Xinis herself ordered the release of Abrego García from a migrant detention center in Pennsylvania by establishing that the government had detained him 'without legal authority,' in part because she emphasized, no formal deportation order had been issued for him in 2019, when another judge determined that his life there was in danger. However, an immigration judge issued a deportation order after his release, which Xinis has temporarily invalidated today.
