Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant who has faced a lengthy legal battle, reported to the ICE Field Office in Baltimore on Monday and is expected to be deported to Uganda, according to his lawyer.
The case has seen an intense six-month courtroom fight that traversed multiple locations and involved numerous federal judges from Tennessee and Maryland.
The Justice Department has identified Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang, claiming he was caught in Tennessee while driving a van loaded with undocumented immigrants. His wife also accused him of domestic violence.
Supporters of Abrego Garcia have painted him as a dedicated father unfairly targeted by the Trump administration, highlighting a judge’s ruling that purportedly found insufficient evidence linking him to MS-13.
As of now, Abrego Garcia is slated to be sent to a third country rather than back to El Salvador due to safety concerns.
This latest twist follows his earlier guilty plea to human smuggling charges. Interestingly, the Justice Department had offered to send him to Costa Rica, but he refused the deal while in custody.
His legal team argued that the government’s offers were attempts to undermine his case and indicated a “vindictive” prosecution strategy from the Trump administration.
They noted that, in addition to the plea deal, the government had indicated it might grant him refugee status or residency, avoiding deportation back to El Salvador.
After rejecting the government’s offer, Abrego was informed that he would have to report to the ICE office in Baltimore by Monday morning.
Details of this arrangement were shared in an official notice to his attorney, and further documented in court filings.
Abrego Garcia entered the US illegally as a teenager and previously lived in Maryland with his wife and children before being deported back to El Salvador in March.
His family has filed a lawsuit claiming that his deportation violated a court order from 2019.
Months of legal wrangling led to his return to the US in May, where he faced allegations of human smuggling, stemming from a traffic incident in Tennessee back in 2022.
If ICE acts to detain him again, it might conflict with a court ruling established by US District Judge Paula Sinis, who was appointed by Obama.
As reported, some officials in the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, unhappy with Abrego Garcia’s release, have been consulting lawyers on how to ensure his removal from the US.
Justice Department lawyers opposed his release, presenting him as a potential danger to the community and claiming gang affiliations.
Despite this, DHS Executive Director Christi Noem announced his release from custody, asserting that the Trump administration would continue to pursue legal actions until Abrego Garcia is deported.
In a show of solidarity, the immigration advocacy group Casa planned early morning vigils outside the Baltimore detention center to support Abrego Garcia and his family. Lydia Walther Rodriguez from Casa remarked that he represents those who courageously oppose the administration’s deportation strategies.
