Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March of last year, will learn next month whether the federal government might re-detain him.
Maryland federal Judge Paula Xinis says she will rule by Feb. 12 whether the removal order granted a year ago was a final one. If she determines it was, the government could take him back into custody.
In the meantime, Abrego Garcia, 30, is spending time with his American wife, Jennifer, and other family members in Maryland. He was released from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility just before Christmas, according to his attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.
“For him the homecoming was incredibly emotional,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg. “This is a person who spent nearly all of 2025 in a jail or detention center.”
Abrego Garcia immigrated illegally from El Salvador to the United States as a teenager, and had since been living and working in Maryland.
He was first detained in March 2025 and then mistakenly deported to El Salvador, despite an order mandating that he not be sent there for safety reasons.
The government then returned him in June, only to subsequently take him back into custody and charge him with human trafficking in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia denies those charges, a trial for which was delayed pending the resolution of his deportation status.
The Donald Trump administration has named a number of places Abrego Garcia could be deported, including several nations in Africa. His preference would be to be deported to Costa Rica, where he would not be in fear of being re-deported to El Salvador.
Costa Rica has already agreed to grant Abrego Garcia legal refugee status.
“It’s been the U.S. government that’s keeping him in this country,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg. “Our argument isn’t that he can’t be deported; our argument is that he must be deported. But he must be deported to Costa Rica because that’s the country that’s offered him safety.”
The Trump administration has insisted, without proof, that Abrego Garcia is a violent gang member. He has said he has never been a member of MS-13 or any other criminal gang.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
