Paula Xinis

Paula Xinis (born Panagiota Xinis, 1968) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. She was appointed in 2016 by President Barack Obama. She is best known for her role as judge in the deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, receiving national and worldwide attention.

Paula Xinis
Xinis testifying to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary during her nomination hearing in 2015
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office May 18, 2016
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Deborah K. Chasanow
Personal details
Born	Panagiota Xinis 1968 (age 56–57) Mineola, New York, U.S.
Education	University of Virginia (BA) Yale University (JD)

Biography

Xinis is of Greek ancestry.^[1] She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1991 from the University of Virginia. She received a Juris Doctor in 1997 from Yale Law School. She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, from 1997 to 1998. From 1998 to 2011, she served as an assistant federal public defender, serving as director of Training for the office from 2006 to 2011. She served at the law firm of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy in Baltimore, Maryland, as a senior trial attorney from 2011 and as a partner from 2013 to 2016. She practiced both civil and criminal litigation.^[2][3]

Federal judicial service

On March 26, 2015, President Barack Obama nominated Xinis to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, to the seat vacated by Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, who assumed senior status on October 3, 2014. Her nomination was reported from the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 17, 2015, by a voice vote.^[4][5] On May 16, 2016, the Senate confirmed her nomination by a 53–34 vote.^[6][7] She received her judicial commission on May 18, 2016.^[3]

Notable rulings

In Abrego Garcia v. Noem, No. 25-cv-951 (Apr. 4, 2025), Judge Xinis ordered the United States government to "facilitate" and "effectuate" the return of undocumented immigrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back to the United States, whom the government concedes was removed due to an "administrative error". Parts of this ruling were later affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, which however stopped short of requiring the government to "effectuate" Garcia's return. ^[8][9]

See also

• James Boasberg, the Federal judge in the concurrent deportation case of Venezuelan nationals.