Abrego Garcia v. Noem (Habeas corpus 2025)
According to the district court's opinion, ICE agents stopped Abrego Garcia while he was driving home from work with his young son, arrested him, and three days later removed him to El Salvador in violation of an October 2019 withholding-of-removal order. (Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 777 F. Supp. 3d 501, 508-09 (D. Md. 2025).)
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Judge Xinis's order directing the government to facilitate and effectuate his return, and the Supreme Court, with no noted dissent, ordered the government to facilitate his return.
The government returned Abrego Garcia to the United States, where he was taken into criminal custody on federal alien-smuggling charges filed in the Middle District of Tennessee.
Abrego Garcia designated Costa Rica as his country of removal under 8 U.S.C. Section 1231(b)(2)(A). His filings state that Costa Rica gave written assurances it would accept him as a refugee and grant him legal status.
Judge Xinis granted the habeas petition and ordered Abrego Garcia's immediate release from ICE custody (ECF 110 opinion; ECF 111 order). She found no valid order authorizing his removal to a third country and wrote that, on Costa Rica, the government "did not just stonewall" but "affirmatively misled the tribunal." He remained subject to the release conditions in his Tennessee criminal case.
After the government moved to undo the release, the court enjoined the government from re-detaining Abrego Garcia in ICE custody while the parties briefed the dispute (ECF 114; ECF 123).
Judge Xinis ruled that ICE could not re-detain him, finding the statutory removal period had run and that the government had "made one empty threat after another" to remove him to African countries with no real prospect of success.
The federal court in the Tennessee criminal case dismissed the smuggling charges on due-process grounds. Abrego Garcia then moved to resolve his remaining habeas claims (ECF 179), asking the court to bar the government from removing him to any country other than Costa Rica, and alleging the government had cycled its proposed destinations from Uganda to Eswatini to Ghana to Liberia.
The government opposed (ECF 184), arguing the remaining claims cannot be brought in habeas corpus, are barred because Abrego Garcia is bound by a class-wide final judgment, and fail as a matter of law under longstanding immigration law.
The court set the reply-brief schedule (ECF 186). The motion to resolve the remaining habeas claims and a related motion for limited discovery (ECF 178) are now fully briefed and pending before Judge Xinis.
Legal Issues
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Overview
Overview
After Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States and re-detained by ICE, he filed a habeas corpus petition in the District of Maryland challenging his continued detention and the government's plans to deport him to a third country. The government sought to remove him to Uganda, Eswatini, Liberia, and other countries rather than release him, while Costa Rica offered to accept him. Judge Xinis found the government had affirmatively misled the court about the availability of third-country options.
The Facts
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national who in October 2019 obtained an order withholding his removal to El Salvador. On March 12, 2025, ICE agents stopped and arrested him, and three days later the government removed him to El Salvador notwithstanding that order. (Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 777 F. Supp. 3d 501, 508-09 (D. Md. 2025).)
After the district court, the Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court directed the government to facilitate his return, the government brought him back to the United States on June 6, 2025, where he was charged with federal alien-smuggling offenses in Tennessee; that criminal case was later dismissed on due-process grounds.
In August 2025 Abrego Garcia designated Costa Rica as his country of removal under 8 U.S.C. Section 1231(b)(2)(A). The government declined to remove him there and instead sought to remove him to a third country, detaining him in the meantime. On December 11, 2025 the court granted his habeas petition, ordered his release from ICE custody, and later enjoined the government from re-detaining him. He is now at liberty subject to his Tennessee release conditions, and the case has narrowed to whether the government may remove him to a third country rather than to the Costa Rica he designated.
The Issue
Issue
Whether Abrego Garcia's continued detention by ICE is lawful where the government obtained judicial approval for removal to third countries through material misrepresentation regarding the availability and feasibility of those options.
The Rules
Rule
A habeas corpus petitioner may challenge unlawful detention under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, and the government has an affirmative duty of candor to the court; detention becomes unlawful if its legal predicate, including approved removal options, rests on material misrepresentations to the judiciary.
The Application
Analysis
Abrego Garcia was re-detained after return to the United States, and ICE sought to deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Liberia, and other countries despite Costa Rica's offer to accept him. Judge Xinis found that the government had affirmatively misled the court about the true availability and feasibility of these third-country options, undermining the factual basis for the detention order.
The Conclusion
Conclusion
Judge Xinis's finding of government misrepresentation regarding third-country removal options calls into question the lawfulness of Abrego Garcia's continued detention; the case remains active as he challenges his detention status and the validity of the government's deportation plans.
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