BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose arrest and fight to stay in the U.S. has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, arrived Monday morning to Baltimore in anticipation of reporting to U.S. immigration officials and then likely facing deportation proceedings.
The Salvadoran national is scheduled to check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Baltimore comes just days after the 30-year-old immigrant was released from a jail in Tennessee, where he had been detained since June after being brought back to the U.S. following his mistaken deportation to El Salvador.
Immigration officials have said they plan to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda, which recently agreed to a deal to accept certain deportees from the U.S., after he declined an offer to be removed to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.
According to his defense attorneys, the government has given Abrego Garcia until first thing Monday to accept the plea deal and deportation to Costa Rica, or “that offer will be off the table forever.”
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have declined to say if he's still considering the deal.
On Friday, Abrego Garcia returned to his family in Maryland. Video released by advocates of the reunion showed a room decorated with streamers, flowers and signs. He embraced loved ones and thanked them “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.
In a statement, Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said the criminal charges underscore how Abrego Garcia presents a "clear danger” and that he can either plead guilty or stand 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.
