A federal judge in Maryland ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration detention on Thursday, ruling that the government has no lawful authority to continue holding him while it pursues his removal to a third country.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said the case had reached a breaking point because “since Abrego Garcia’s wrongful detention in El Salvador , he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority.” She found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been detaining him solely for the purpose of executing a removal that she said the law does not permit, writing that “no order of removal exists,” a discrepancy in the record that the government has not yet been able to fix.

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