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

Baltimore again served as a backdrop for the contentious immigration battle pitting Kilmar Abrego Garcia against the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement efforts.

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.