Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been ordered released from federal custody as he awaits trial in the United States on human smuggling charges.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw upheld a magistrate judge's ruling Wednesday that Abrego Garcia did not pose a public safety threat or flight risk if released to his family.
Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland, was inadvertently deported and imprisoned in El Salvador before congressional intervention landed him back in the United States.
The Trump administration immediately presented Abrego Garcia with an indictment on charges he was part of an MS-13 gang smuggling ring used to transport migrants throughout the United States.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty.
According to Reuters, "President Donald Trump's administration had previously said if Abrego is freed from criminal custody, he will immediately be taken into immigration detention and face a second deportation to a country other than El Salvador," due to potential gang persecution in that country.
In a separate ruling, a federal judge placed a 72-hour pause on any deportation attempts.
The Trump administration had vowed to immediately begin the process of deporting Abrego Garcia again after resolving his criminal case.
