Kilmar Abrego Garcia could be released from criminal custody as soon as Friday, the latest development in a dramatic legal saga surrounding the wrongly deported Maryland father of three.

Abrego Garcia has for months been behind bars in Tennessee since he was returned to the US from El Salvador, where he was unlawfully deported in mid-March, to face human smuggling charges.

Two federal judges in Nashville have turned down a request from federal prosecutors for him to remain locked up while he awaits trial on the charges, but one of them paused her release order last month for 30 days. That pause is expected to expire on Friday.

His deportation earlier this year and the administration’s protracted battle against judges who demanded officials work to bring him back to the US became a

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