U.S. President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
A Maryland immigrant appeared again this week as Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempted to deport him to a third-party country. That ultimately turned into a stunning rebuke of the Justice Department by a conservative judge.
Kilmar Ábrego García has faced off against the U.S. government since March, when he was mistakenly sent to a brutal prison in El Salvador. Despite court demands to return him, the government dragged its feet until it decided it could charge him with a felony and allege he was part of an organized crime syndicate. The judge in that case ultimately granted bail for Ábrego, only to have ICE snatch him when he showed up for a check-in.
In court on Monday, a Maryland judge put everything on hold, saying the government could not deport Ábrego to Uganda until his case was fully adjudicated. A 48-hour temporary restraining order was put in place. In response, the Trump administration didn't dispute the hold; rather, it filed a suit against Maryland’s entire federal bench.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case. He also issued a rebuke of the effort.
"None of these cases supports the Executive's theory that it can sue federal judges simply because it disagrees with how they carry out their constitutional and statutory duties. To hold otherwise would run counter to overwhelming precedent, depart from longstanding constitutional tradition and offend the rule of law," Cullen wrote.
Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig spoke to CNN host Jake Tapper and said he didn't think there's a federal judge in the country who would see the decision any differently.
"By the way, the appeal that was just filed. They're going to lose. I try not to do predictions. The Trump administration will absolutely lose that appeal," Honig promised.
"You know, the expression that we're all focusing on is 'constitutional free-for-all.' I actually don't even think that's quite right, because a free-for-all suggests something haphazard. It's more like a constitutional mockery. What happened here, when the district court judges in Maryland made this ruling that Trump did not like — what he should have done, is an appeal. Instead, what he did is essentially say to the judges, 'You should shut yourselves down.' And the basis that this judge dismissed Trump's lawsuit on is two things he said you don't have: Standing, and you don't have a cause of action."
Ultimately, Honig explained, that translates to not having any business in court asking judges for a thing that doesn't exist in the law.
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