A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador whose case has become a political flashpoint for deportation efforts by the Trump administration.

However, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could soon make efforts to detain him and may move to deport him for a second time, even as federal prosecutors are still seeking to bring him to criminal trial for human smuggling.

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“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner. “We have said it for months, and it remains true to this day: He will never go free on American soil.”

U.S. Judge Waverly Crenshaw affirmed the findings of a magistrate who, days before, decided that Abrego Garcia should not need to remain behind bars while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges. Crenshaw ordered him released on his own recognizance with strict conditions, including home detention, location monitoring, drug testing, and anger management classes. But Crenshaw acknowledged that Abrego Garcia would likely be taken into ICE custody immediately upon release.

“The most I can do is request the U.S. Attorney’s Office to encourage cooperation from Homeland Security,” Crenshaw said during the hearing at a federal court in Nashville, noting that his court cannot direct ICE to take or avoid any particular action. Crenshaw scheduled an evidentiary hearing during the afternoon on July 16 to hear the government’s motion for revoking the order.

Outside the federal courthouse, a reporter from a local NPR affiliate spotted DHS vehicles waiting outside the building in preparation for his possible transfer into federal custody.

Abrego Garcia, 29, entered the United States illegally more than a decade ago and had been living in Maryland, where he worked as a sheet metal fabricator and raised three children with his American wife. His legal troubles began after a December 2022 Tennessee traffic stop in which police pulled him over for speeding. He was found driving a vehicle carrying nine other illegal immigrants, all of whom gave the same address as Abrego Garcia’s.

The Justice Department indicted him in May on two counts of conspiring to smuggle and transport migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Ecuador into the U.S. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors have argued that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent MS-13 gang, a designated terrorist organization, and poses a threat to the community and possible witnesses. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, in a 51-page ruling on June 22, dismissed those claims as unsupported and based largely on hearsay from cooperating witnesses whose stories were vague and inconsistent.

“The government’s evidence that Abrego Garcia is a gang member is simply insufficient,” Holmes wrote.

Abrego Garcia was deported in March to El Salvador despite an earlier federal court order blocking his removal to that country due to the threat of gang violence. The Trump administration later admitted the deportation to El Salvador was the result of an “administrative error.” A judge in Maryland ruled the deportation illegal and ordered his return to the U.S., a decision the Supreme Court upheld. However, the administration delayed bringing him back until after he was indicted.

Prosecutors asked Holmes to stay her release order, warning that ICE could deport him again before he stands trial. In a filing Tuesday, the DOJ wrote that “if Abrego Garcia is moved to ICE custody and deported from the United States, the prosecution would lose the meaningful opportunity to try its case. This would be irreparable harm to the public.”

The case comes just days after the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a green light to resume deporting illegal immigrants to third countries, nations other than the immigrants’ own, without a final asylum hearing.

McLaughlin previously praised the high court ruling, telling the Washington Examiner that it clears the way for removals that had been blocked by lower courts.

JUDGE RULES ABREGO GARCIA MUST BE RELEASED WHILE AWAITING TRIAL

While Abrego Garcia cannot legally be returned to El Salvador for now, the administration could still pursue removal to a third country willing to accept him and commit not to send him back to his home country. The Justice Department has argued that if Abrego Garcia is found guilty, the limited withholding of removal order would no longer be in effect for El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia’s ultimate fate now lies with ICE and DHS — whether they choose to seek immediate removal or coordinate with prosecutors to prioritize the smuggling charges first.