Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from jail after fighting Trump deportation

• Abrego Garcia's legal team was previously worried that he could be deported if released while awaiting trial.

What they're saying: "Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free," Sean Hecker, Abrego Garcia's attorney, said in a statement.

• "He is presently en route to his family in Maryland, after being unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government's vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the Administration's continuing assault on the rule of law," his attorney continues.
• The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request to comment on Abrego Garcia's release.

Driving the news: U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes granted his legal team's release order motion in June.

• "This stay does not, however, relieve either Abrego or the government of any other pretrial obligations," she wrote at the time.
• She ordered his Friday release to his attorney's custody no later than 5pm local time.

Zoom out: Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March, which became a flashpoint of President Trump's immigration policies. He's originally from El Salvador but lived in Maryland.

• He was returned to the U.S. in June and faced an indictment that alleged he made more than 100 trips transporting undocumented immigrants between Texas and Maryland, among other states.

What we're watching: Lawyers for Abrego Garcia moved to dismiss the indictment earlier this month "for vindictive and selective prosecution."

• U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. gave the Trump administration until Sept. 2 to respond.
• Abrego Garcia's team may file an additional response by Sept. 9.

Go deeper: Abrego García alleges "severe beatings," torture in El Salvador prison

Editor's note: This story has been updated with details from the judge's order.