Judge orders migrant deported in 'error' free from ICE custody with criminal case looming
Judge ruled that Trump officials have done 'nothing' to show that Abrego Garcia's continued ICE detention is in line with due proces.
By Breanne Deppisch , Jake Gibson Fox News
Published February 17, 2026 2:55pm EST
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from re-arresting Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia into federal immigration custody — an update that comes just days before he is slated to appear in Nashville for a key court date in a separate criminal case.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis agreed to convert her previous emergency order blocking ICE from immediately re-detaining Abrego Garcia into a longer-term form of injunctive relief sought by his lawyers.
She said Tuesday that the Trump administration failed to provide the court with any "good reason to believe" that they plan to remove him to a third country in the "reasonably foreseeable future." Instead, she said, they "made one empty threat after another to remove him to countries in Africa with no real chance of success."
The order clears the way for Abrego Garcia to participate in a key hearing in Nashville next week on whether a separate federal judge should dismiss his criminal case on the grounds of "vindictive" and selective prosecution.
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