Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be freed from immigration detention while he fights to stay in the U.S., a judge ruled Thursday, handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the United States without any legal basis.

"For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia's Petition for immediate release from ICE custody," the judge wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized the decision and vowed to appeal, calling the ruling "naked judicial acti

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