- Kilmar Abrego Garcia was taken into ICE custody Monday morning after he turned himself in.
- The Trump administration is trying to deport him ahead of his criminal trial in January.
- Abrego Garcia may face deportation to Uganda after being offered a plea deal which included deportation to Costa Rica.
Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia was taken into custody on Monday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is being processed for deportation to Uganda, just days after his release from criminal custody.
In March, Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to his home country and was held in a Salvadoran prison for months. After he was returned to the U.S. in June, he was jailed on federal human smuggling charges, per CBS News.
In the case of the smuggling charges, his trial was set for January and a judge ruled that he should be released from detention ahead of the trial.
Last Friday, Abrego Garcia was freed from pretrial detention and on Saturday, his attorneys were sent a notice of his potential deportation to Uganda, per CBS News.
Abrego Garcia is in the country illegally, but an immigration judge said he could not be deported to El Salvador because he reportedly faced danger there. The Department of Justice believes he is a member of the MS-13 gang. He was also accused of violence against his wife.
Abrego Garcia taken into ICE custody on Monday
Abrego Garcia arrived at an ICE facility on Monday morning to check in after speaking to a group of supporters who had gathered outside the facility, per CBS News.
“This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us,” Abrego Garcia said to the crowd of roughly 200 people gathered outside the ICE field office in Baltimore, per The Associated Press. “God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”
Abrego Garcia’s attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said there was no need for ICE to take him into custody.
“He was already on electronic monitoring from the U.S. Marshals Service and basically on house arrest. The only reason that they’ve chosen to take him into detention is to punish him. To punish him for exercising his constitutional rights,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said, per CBS News.
The attorney filed a new lawsuit on behalf of Abrego Garcia on Monday, which challenges his confinement and deportation to any county “unless and until he had a fair trial in an immigration court,” according to CBS News.
After the lawsuit was filed, the U.S. district court in Maryland issued an order preventing the federal government from immediately removing Abrego Garcia from the U.S., putting his deportation on hold for now. This order will be in effect until Wednesday at 4 p.m., unless it is extended.
Why is Abrego Garcia being deported to Uganda?
Federal officials have argued that Abrego Garcia can be deported since he came to the U.S. illegally and because a U.S. immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, just not to his native El Salvador, per the AP.
A legal filing from Abrego Garcia’s lawyers over the weekend said he was offered a plea deal, which included deportation to Costa Rica. His attorneys then received a notice of his possible deportation to Uganda.
On Monday, Sandoval-Moshenberg said Abrego Garcia was willing to accept refugee status in Costa Rica.
“The fact that they’re holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick to try to coerce him to plead guilty to a crime is such clear evidence that they’re weaponizing the immigration system in a manner that is completely unconstitutional,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said, per CBS News.
The attorney shared that when asked about the reason for Abrego Garcia’s detention, an ICE officer did not answer and would not say which detention center he would be taken to.
According to the AP, Uganda recently agreed to accept certain deportees from the U.S.
Federal court filings show that the Costa Rican government said Abrego Garcia wouldn’t face detention and would be welcomed as a legal immigrant.
What the Trump administration has said about Abrego Garcia
In an X post on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem wrote about Abrego Garcia’s detainment and possible deportation.
“President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer,” Noem wrote.
According to the AP, the Trump administration has alleged that Abrego Garcia is a danger to the community as well as an MS-13 gang member. Both Abrego Garcia and his family have denied the gang allegation, and he also pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges.
The administration has said it is trying to deport Abrego Garcia before his trial in Tennessee.
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement that the criminal charges show that Abrego Garcia presents a danger and that he can either stand trial or plead guilty.
“Either way, we will hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people,” Gilmartin said, per the AP.