BALTIMORE – On Monday, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was due to report to U.S. immigration officials in Maryland in line with the Trump administration’s decision to deport him. The El Salvadoran national’s case has turned into a significant issue in the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.
The planned appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Baltimore is happening shortly after the 30-year-old returned from a Tennessee jail. He had been detained there since June, following his wrongful deportation to El Salvador, before being brought back to the U.S.
Immigration authorities intend to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda, which has recently signed an agreement to take certain U.S. deportees, after he rejected an offer to move to Costa Rica in return for a guilty plea to human smuggling charges.
His defense attorneys have stated that the government has set a deadline of Monday morning for Abrego Garcia to accept the plea agreement and deportation to Costa Rica, warning that the offer will permanently be withdrawn otherwise.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have declined to say if he’s still considering the deal.
Abrego Garcia reunited with his family in Maryland on Friday. Video from advocates showed the reunion in a room adorned with streamers, flowers, and signs as he hugged family members and expressed gratitude “for everything.”
Filings in federal court show the Costa Rican government saying Abrego Garcia would be welcomed as a legal immigrant and wouldn’t face detention.
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin stated that the criminal charges highlight how Abrego Garcia poses a “clear danger,” offering him the choice to either plead guilty or face trial.
“Either way, we will hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people,” Gilmartin said.
Abrego Garcia’s case became a flash point in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, despite a judge’s earlier determination that he faced a “well-founded fear” of violence there. Facing a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the United States in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges.
He pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to dismiss the case, claiming that it is an attempt to punish him for challenging his deportation to El Salvador. The Saturday filing came as a supplement to that motion to dismiss, stating that the threat to deport him to Uganda is more proof that the prosecution is vindictive.
The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. There were nine passengers in the car, and officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. Abrego Garcia was allowed to continue driving with only a warning.
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years. Although he was deemed eligible for pretrial release last month, he remained in jail at the request of his attorneys, who feared the Republican administration could try to immediately deport him again if he were freed.
A recent ruling in a separate case in Maryland required ICE to provide 72 hours’ notice before initiating deportation proceedings — time to allow a prospective deportee to mount a defense. An email from ICE sent to attorneys at 4:01 p.m. on Friday refers to that decision.
“Please let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends),” it states. Uganda recently agreed to take deportees from the U.S., provided they do not have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors.
Federal officials have argued that Abrego Garcia can be deported because 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.
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