GREENBELT, Md.—A federal judge heard arguments on Oct. 10 as lawyers for Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia pressed for his release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
His attorneys argued that U.S. immigration laws allow illegal immigrants to be detained for up to 90 days, but only pending deportation. Abrego Garcia has been in one form of custody or another since his arrest in March, they said.
“The real aim of the government, the improper aim, is a punitive one,” his attorney, Andrew Rossman, told the court.
Attorneys for the government argued that the countdown of 90 days should begin from Aug. 25, when he was last taken into ICE custody….