Celebrate the Judge Protecting Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal judge just delivered another powerful affirmation that due process still matters.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot take Kilmar Abrego Garcia back into custody — blocking yet another attempt by the Trump administration to detain him while scrambling to deport him again.

Abrego Garcia was unlawfully deported to El Salvador last year in violation of a prior court order. After months of legal battles and repeated court rulings in his favor, he was finally returned to the United States. Yet even after a federal judge allowed him to remain free ahead of trial, immigration officials tried to re-detain him and search for a country to send him to.

Judge Xinis made it clear: there is no lawful basis to keep him locked up. In her ruling, she wrote that the government failed to show that deportation was likely in the foreseeable future and had “done nothing” to justify his continued detention under the Constitution.

This case has become a symbol of something much bigger — whether the government can ignore court orders and detain people indefinitely without clear legal grounds. Judge Xinis’ decision sends a firm message: executive power has limits, and due process cannot be cast aside for political expediency.

Add your name to celebrate Judge Paula Xinis for defending constitutional rights, standing up to unlawful detention, and ensuring that justice — not politics — guides our immigration system.