GREENBELT, Md. (CN) - A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Friday preventing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from immediately arresting Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he was released from custody on Thursday. 

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered the Maryland man be released from ICE custody, where he had been held since August following his release from criminal detention in Tennessee, after finding he did not have an outstanding removal order necessary for his deportation. 

Upon his release, the government issued an "ICE Order of Supervision" that allowed Abrego Garcia to remain free so long as he remained within Maryland and ordered he appear in person Friday morning at ICE's field office in Baltimore, where the government had arrested him in August. 

In response, Abrego Garcia filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the government from once again arresting him when he arrived at the ICE Baltimore office and until the court can hold a hearing on his motion. 

"Abrego Garcia will suffer irreparable harm absent emergency relief," Xinis wrote in a five-page order Friday morning. "If, as Abrego Garcia suspects, respondents will take him into custody this morning, his liberty will be restricted once again. It is beyond dispute that unlawful detention visits irreparable harm."

ICE's supervision order stated that Abrego Garcia was ordered removed on Oct. 10, 2019 - the government has maintained that an immigration judge had ordered the man removed as the basis for its removal efforts - despite the fact no such order was issued that day. 

Instead, Xinis found the supervision order relied on a new "order" issued Thursday night by Immigration Judge Phillip Taylor, the acting regional deputy chief immigration judge who was appointed in April 2025. 

Xinis, a Barack Obama appointee, found that the government's newly acquired removal order from Taylor is retroactively effective from 2019 - well outside the 90-day removal period required by Zadvydas v. Davis, a Supreme Court case that created an "implicit time limitation" for immigration detention and prohibits "indefinite detention."

"Respondents also have detained Abrego Garcia for the six-month presumptive period articulated in Zadvydas, when conservatively considering the time spent in ICE detention since 2019, combined with the time spent in detention in El Salvador, and in ICE custody after securing his release in the Tennessee Criminal Matter," Xinis wrote. 

"Nor had respondents done anything to secure Abrego Garcia's third-country removal between 2019 and August 2025," the judge continued. "Thus, Abrego Garcia is likely to succeed on the merits of any further Zadvydas claim." 

Abrego Garcia's attorneys welcomed Xinis' latest order in an emailed statement. 

"We remain hopeful that this marks a turning point for Mr. Abrego Garcia, who has endured more than anyone should ever have to," Rebecca Morgan said, speaking on behalf of firm Murray Osorio. "At the same time, we are mindful of the government's past conduct in this case and stay vigilant to ensure that nothing undermines the court's decision."

Source: Courthouse News Service