A federal judge in Maryland ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from immigration detention on Thursday while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward.

US District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must release Abrego Garcia from custody immediately.

“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” the judge wrote. “For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia’s Petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”

Justice Department spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the judge’s order. Messages seeking comment were left with Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.

The order means that Abrego will at least temporarily be allowed to return to his Maryland home despite repeated declarations from Trump administration officials that he would never again be free in the US.

The judge’s decision to free Abrego marked the latest major development in a saga that began in March when Abrego was wrongfully deported to a prison in his native El Salvador and then brought back to the US in June to face human smuggling charges.

His case has become a symbol of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, with Trump officials portraying Abrego as a danger to public safety and critics accusing the administration of trampling legal rights in its bid to deport millions living illegally in the United States.