Xinis was born in Mineola, New York, graduated from the University of Virginia and went to Yale Law School. She clerked for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She was an assistant federal public defender in Maryland and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

The judge cited Judge Xinis’ order in the Abrego Garcia case to order the Trump administration to “facilitate” another return.