A federal judge in Maryland has prohibited the Trump administration from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he’s released from jail in Tennessee while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges, according to an order issued Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the U.S. government to provide notice of three business days if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against him.

The judge also ordered the government to restore the federal supervision that Abrego Garcia was under before he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That supervision had allowed Abrego Garcia to live and work in Maryland for years, while he periodically checked in with ICE.

“Defendants have done little to assure the Court that absent intervention, Abrego Garcia’s due process rights will be protected,” Xinis wrote in her order.

Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies following his wrongful explusion to El Salvador in March. Trump’s administration violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.

The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on.

Abrego Garcia’s criminal attorneys in the Tennessee case want him released from jail to await trial, but only if he won’t be taken into ICE custody and deported. A federal judge in that criminal case on Wednesday affirmed that Abrego Garcia is eligible for release. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that appropriate release conditions will mitigate any risk of flight or any danger to the community.

Crenshaw then sent the case back to U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, who originally held that Abrego Garcia is eligible for release last month. Holmes has held off on ordering his release at the request of Abrego Garcia’s own lawyers. On Wednesday, she signed yet another order putting off his release from jail, this time for 30 days.