Kilmar Abrego Garcia en route to Maryland after release, lawyer says

Dan Belson, The Baltimore Sun on Aug 22, 2025

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BALTIMORE — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man incarcerated since his mistaken deportation in March, was released Friday from jail in Tennessee and is “presently en route to his family in Maryland,” his lawyer said.

“Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free,” Sean Hecker, an attorney in Abrego Garcia’s criminal case in Tennessee, said.

Abrego Garcia, an El Salvador native who lived with his family in Prince George’s County until his deportation, became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after being sent in March to a Salvadoran mega-prison. Facing a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges.

“He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process,” Hecker said.

A Friday order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes required Abrego Garcia’s release by 5 p.m. and mandated that he travel directly to Maryland, where he must remain in his brother’s custody.

Although Abrego Garcia was deemed eligible for pretrial release, he had remained in jail at the request of his attorneys as the Trump administration had suggested it would immediately try to deport him again. Those fears were somewhat allayed by a recent ruling in his Maryland civil case, which requires immigration officials to allow Abrego Garcia time to mount a challenge to any deportation order.

Holmes’ order also requires that if Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains Abrego Garcia, he must have “access to his attorneys, both physically and via telephone.”

Earlier this week, Abrego Garcia’s criminal attorneys filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the criminal case, claiming he is being prosecuted to punish him for challenging his removal to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges, which stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was allowed to continue driving with only a warning.

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