Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to Maryland on Friday, but his future in the United States remains uncertain.

The Beltsville resident who was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March has been held since June in pretrial detention in Tennessee, where he is facing criminal smuggling charges. He will be allowed to reside in Maryland under electronic monitoring and travel to Tennessee for court appearances.

“Today has been a very special day because I have seen my family for the first time in more than 160 days. I’d like to thank all the people who have supported me because after this long time I have witnessed that so many people have been by my side with such positivity,” Abrego Garcia said in a statement.

“I am grateful to CASA and SMART Local 100 where I work, the pastors, and churches that have hosted prayer circles for me. Today I am grateful to God because He has heard me and today I am out. We are steps closer to justice, but justice has not been fully served.”

The Trump administration alleges Abrego Garcia is a dangerous member of the criminal MS-13 gang who has facilitated the illegal entry and movement of migrants in the United States, a characterization his family and attorneys categorically deny, claiming he is nothing more than a husband, father and union member.

Weeks after he was brought back to face the criminal charges, a U.S. magistrate judge in Tennessee ordered his conditional release to Maryland, finding he did not pose a public safety threat or flight risk. That release was delayed and further litigated based on reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to place him in civil immigration detention immediately upon his release from criminal detention and restart the deportation process — but this time to a third country.

“For the first time since March, our client Kilmar Abrego Garcia is reunited with his loving family. While his release brings some relief, we all know that he is far from safe. ICE detention or deportation to an unknown third country still threaten to tear his family apart,” Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, said. “A measure of justice has been done, but the government must stop pursuing actions that would once again separate this family.”

A private security firm will facilitate his trip to Maryland, marking the first time Abrego Garcia will return to his community in the five months after he was whisked to a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison and became one of the most prominent figures in the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, CASA’s chief of organizing and leadership, said it has been 160 days since the father of three saw his family.

The organization has worked closely with Abrego Garcia’s family throughout the ordeal.

“Today, he was finally released and has had the incredible opportunity to reunite with them,” she said. “Thanks to his family’s unwavering fight and the powerful community-led movement, Kilmar’s name has become a symbol of resilience, resistance, and HOPE.”

She urged his supporters to continue the fight “so he is never separated from his family again — and for all the Kilmars out there waiting for their stories to be told.”

Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos, an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights, said she was happy Abrego Garcia can go home to his family.

“He was wrongfully deported and has been harassed by this administration,” she said. “He has done nothing wrong. Leave him be. Let all of us be.”

In July, in the civil case brought by Abrego Garcia’s wife in Maryland challenging his deportation, U.S. Judge Paula Xinis ordered that ICE must not immediately take him into custody upon his release from jail and must provide notice of three business days if it intends to initiate deportation proceedings against him.

“Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free,” defense attorney Sean Hecker said. “He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process.”

On Wednesday, acting U.S. Attorney in Nashville Robert McGuire “steadfastly objected” to Abrego Garcia’s release but stated they had no objection to allowing Abrego Garcia 48 hours to travel to Maryland and the use of electronic monitoring, as well as the opportunity to meet with his attorneys, should he be taken into immigration detention at a future date.

“The United States has an obvious and significant interest in providing the Defendant sufficient access to counsel in order to secure a fair trial,” McGuire wrote. “However, the United States would note that, should the Defendant be removed from the United States to another country via deportation, the United States would no longer be in a position to facilitate the Defendant’s access to his attorneys at that point.”

Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk, a veteran lawmaker representing Prince George’s County in Annapolis, said she wants the community to rally around the family and support them.

“The community has been supportive, and we need to continue that support,” Peña-Melnyk, who supports providing security for the family in Abrego Garcia’s return, said.

“I think that would be a great idea,” she added. “That family has been through hell and back. Better to be safe than sorry. I think their safety is important.”

A public affairs officer for the U.S. attorney in Tennessee declined to comment further on the case, saying McGuire‘s statements in court serve as the office’s comment.

Representatives from ICE’s Baltimore field office, which has jurisdiction over most of Maryland, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the agency has a plan or order to arrest Abrego Garcia in Maryland.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slammed the decision.

“Activist liberal judges have attempted to obstruct our law enforcement every step of the way in removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country. Today, we reached a new low with this publicity hungry Maryland judge mandating this illegal alien who is a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator be allowed free.

“By ordering this monster loose on America’s streets, this judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people. We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country.”

ICE removed Abrego Garcia in March alongside hundreds of others, predominantly Venezuelans whom the Trump administration alleged were members of gang Tren de Aragua. Last month, those Venezuelans, whose gang membership is refuted in media and human rights reports, were sent back to Venezuela in a three-country prisoner swap that also freed a Baltimore man.

Abrego Garcia’s removal violated a 2019 court order that granted him “withholding of removal,” which prohibits a person from being deported to a specific country based on a well-founded fear of persecution but leaves open the possibility of removal to a third country willing to accept the individual.

The Trump administration admitted to deporting him due to an “administrative error” but spent months fighting against a court order to bring him back to the U.S.

In June, it fulfilled part of Xinis’ order by returning him but also brought the criminal charges against him, which stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Police officers at the time suspected he may have been involved in a human trafficking operation but allowed him to drive on with just a warning for an expired driver’s license. Charges related to the incident were not filed until this year.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s ‘right to due process’

Abrego Garcia’s case has attracted international attention. It has also been the source of political division — capturing the attention of the president and Maryland’s top Democrats.

Maryland’s senators, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, have been outspoken in their support of Abrego Garcia — with Van Hollen traveling to El Salvador to successfully meet with him while he was imprisoned.

Blaming the Trump administration’s “relentless efforts to defy” the Constitution, Van Hollen praised the legal system, saying it “has worked its will and is upholding Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s right to due process. ... I’m glad that he is being returned to his home and his family, where he rightly belongs.”

Van Hollen said he has no doubt the Trump administration will continue its attempts to “undermine Mr. Abrego Garcia’s rights.”

“We will continue fighting to see them maintained — due process in this case does not end with his release. Mr. Abrego Garcia must continue to be allowed to defend himself in court, where the Trump Administration must make its case before taking any further action against him,” he said.

Gov. Wes Moore had a similar message.

“From the start, we’ve asked that due process be followed — meaning everyone receives proper notice of the allegations against them and has an opportunity to be heard,” Moore wrote in an email to The Banner. “This was never about one person, but about the laws that govern all people in our country. Several courts have made decisions in this case, and we expect the Trump administration to follow those decisions.”

This article has been updated.