Kilmar Abrego Garcia Detained by ICE Again, But Judge Blocks Deportation

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to an El Salvadorian prison in March, has been detained by immigration authorities again just days after his release from detention ahead of his trial on charges of human trafficking.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later said on X that he “will be processed for removal to Uganda,” a country he has never been to.

But, a ruling on Monday afternoon hearing temporarily blocked his deportation—for now.

Read more: The Legal and Political Battle Over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Deportation

Abrego Garcia was detained at the ICE Baltimore Field Office on Monday, just two days after his lawyers accused the Trump Administration in a court filing of trying to "coerce" their client to plead guilty to criminal charges of human trafficking or face deportation to Uganda. 

Speaking to a crowd that had gathered outside the ICE Baltimore office to support Abrego Garcia on Monday, his lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said the detention was about retribution.

“The only reason they have chosen to take him into detention is to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights,” he said, adding that ICE officials did not respond when asked why Abrego Garcia was being taken into custody.

Later Monday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said the Trump Administration was “absolutely forbidden” to go forward with Garcia’s deportation to Uganda for now. Xinis emphasized the contrast between Uganda and Costa Rica, with the latter having reassured refugee status and no deportation to El Salvador, and the former having promised none of these protections.

Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation earlier this year has become a flashpoint case for the Administration in its sweeping mass deportation effort.

Read more: The Trump Administration Could Have Fought to Deport Abrego Garcia in 2019. It Passed on the Chance

Abrego Garcia was deported earlier in March despite a direct court order that prohibited his removal to El Salvador. The Trump Administration ignored numerous court orders, including one from the Supreme Court, that called for it to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.

Abrego Garcia was eventually returned to the U.S., where he was detained on human smuggling charges in Tennessee in June based on body cam footage from a 2022 traffic stop.

Just a day before his release from pre-trial detention on Friday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said the federal government presented a last-ditch plea deal. In it, prosecutors offered him the chance to be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail until his trial and pleading guilty to charges of smuggling undocumented immigrants across the United States.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers declined to keep Abrego Garcia in jail, but agreed to convey the offer of a plea bargain to their client. But the court filing states that “within minutes” of his release on Friday from a jail in Tennessee, Abrego’s counsel was informed by ICE that he would be deported to Uganda and “ordered him to report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office Monday.”

“There can be only one interpretation of these events: the DOJ, DHS, and ICE are using their collective powers to force Mr. Abrego to choose between a guilty plea followed by relative safety, or rendition to Uganda, where his safety and liberty would be under threat,” the court filing read. “The same drive for retribution that fueled this criminal case evidently caused a dramatic change in the government’s position with respect to third-country removal.”

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers called for a dismissal of the charges against him in their Saturday filing.   On Monday, they announced they had filed a new lawsuit in federal court to challenge his detention and potential deportation to Uganda, demanding “a fair trial” in immigration court.

Sandoval-Moshenberg said the government is “holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick” and they are “weaponizing the immigration system in a manner that is completely unconstitutional."

Prior to his detention, Abrego Garcia spoke at the rally. 

“I want you to remember this: I am free, and I was able to be reunited with my family,” he told the crowd, speaking in Spanish with a translator. “No matter what happens here today in my ICE checking, promise me this: promise me that you will continue to pray, continue to fight, resist, and love—not just for me, but for everybody. Continue to demand freedom.”