Immigration officials say they intend to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, after he declined an offer to be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.
The Costa Rica offer came late Thursday, after it was clear that the Salvadoran national would likely be released Friday from Putnam County jail. Abrego Garcia declined to extend his stay in jail and was released on Friday to await trial in Maryland with his family.
Late Friday the Department of Homeland Security notified his attorneys that he would be deported to Uganda and should report to immigration authorities on Monday.
Abrego Garcia’s case became a focus of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, despite a court order indicating he should only be deported to some other country due to claims that he would face reprisal in El Salvador. Facing a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges arising from a traffic stop in Tennessee years earlier.
He has pleaded not guilty and has 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 by Garcia’s legal team comes 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 government immediately responded to Mr. Abrego’s release with outrage,” the filing reads. “Despite having requested and received assurances from the government of Costa Rica that Mr. Abrego would be accepted there, within minutes of his release from pretrial custody, an ICE representative informed Mr. Abrego’s counsel that the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego to Uganda and ordered him to report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office Monday morning.”
Although Abrego Garcia was deemed eligible for pretrial release, by a federal judge, he has remained in custody in Tennessee at the request of his attorneys, who feared the Trump administration could try to immediately deport him if he was freed. A separate case in Maryland requires immigration officials to allow Abrego Garcia time to mount a defense, so while his deportation may be imminent, it will not be immediate.
Steve Gill is an attorney and Publisher of TriStar Daily.
