In the Feb. 17, 2026 decision, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia, bringing another stop to the government’s efforts to hold him in immigration custody after prior court orders for release, according to a timeline of key events in his case reported by The Associated Press.
The timeline traces back to an immigration fight that began when Abrego Garcia entered the United States as a teenager after fleeing El Salvador, and to a chain of removals and court interventions that have continued through 2026. In Maryland, an immigration judge ruled on Oct. 10, 2019 that Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador, where a gang had threatened his family, and the judge granted him a work permit and placed him under federal supervision.
Despite that ruling, Abrego Garcia was detained in Baltimore on March 12, 2025 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while he was driving home with his 5-year-old son, the timeline says. Three days later, on March 15, 2025, the government mistakenly deported him to El Salvador and held him in prison conditions described as notoriously brutal in the Associated Press timeline.
After the mistaken deportation, the U.S. Supreme Court on April 10, 2025 ordered the Trump administration to work to bring Abrego Garcia back. The timeline later says Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States and, on June 6, 2025, faced criminal charges in Tennessee accusing him of human smuggling based on a traffic stop in 2022. The case in Tennessee is separate from a civil case in Maryland where Abrego Garcia has challenged attempts by the Department of Homeland Security to deport him to multiple African countries, the Associated Press timeline says.
While the criminal case proceeded, the government also pursued further removal efforts, and the timeline describes continued attempts at a second deportation beginning July 23, 2025. It says Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced plans to remove him to a series of African countries, but those plans have been blocked by an injunction from a Maryland federal judge, according to the timeline.
The timeline also shows that Abrego Garcia was released from Tennessee jail on Aug. 22, 2025 and returned to his family in Maryland and awaited trial there. Within minutes of his release, Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent notice that it intended to deport him to Uganda, and he was then taken into custody again on Aug. 25, 2025 after he reported to an immigration office in Baltimore.
A federal judge in Maryland ordered ICE on Dec. 11, 2025 to immediately release Abrego Garcia, and the Feb. 17, 2026 ruling came after that earlier order—again directing that ICE cannot re-detain him, per the Associated Press timeline of events.