Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland construction worker and longtime resident, was detained Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore. The Trump administration is now pushing to deport him — not to his native El Salvador, but to Uganda.
Abrego Garcia, 30, turned himself in at ICE’s downtown office. His wife walked out alone minutes later, wiping away tears. Speaking before his surrender, Abrego Garcia told supporters, “This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us. God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on X that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being processed for deportation. His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said they filed a federal lawsuit in Maryland shortly after his detention, seeking a court order to block his removal.
“I’m going to ask for an interim order that he not be deported, pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. government has tried to deport Abrego Garcia. In March, ICE wrongfully removed him to El Salvador, despite a judge ruling he faced a “well-founded fear” of violence there. He was thrown into a notorious Salvadoran prison. Under pressure, the administration brought him back to the U.S. in June.
But instead of releasing him, they charged him with human smuggling. His lawyers say the charges are politically motivated and designed to punish him for resisting deportation. He has pleaded not guilty and asked for the case to be thrown out, calling the prosecution “vindictive.”
The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding with nine passengers in his car. Police let him go with a warning.
ICE now wants to deport him to Uganda — a country he has no connection to. Uganda recently agreed to accept some U.S. deportees under a new deal, as long as they don’t have criminal records or aren’t unaccompanied minors. Federal officials say he qualifies because he entered the U.S. illegally and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2019, though not to El Salvador.
An ICE email sent late Friday stated: “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).”
Earlier this year, Abrego Garcia was jailed in Tennessee while awaiting trial. Though a judge allowed him to be released, his lawyers kept him behind bars, fearing ICE would deport him the moment he walked free. He was released just last week and reunited with his wife and children in Maryland. A video shows him entering a room filled with streamers, hugs, and tears. “Thank you for everything,” he told supporters.
The Trump administration claims Abrego Garcia is tied to MS-13 — an accusation he strongly denies. Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement, “Either way, we will hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people.”
Abrego Garcia has refused a deal to be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea, even though Costa Rica agreed to take him in legally and without detention.
For now, his deportation is on hold. But his legal team is racing the clock to stop what they say is another attempt to silence a man who stood up to a broken immigration system.
