BALTIMORE – Kilmar Abrego Garcia was reunited with his family last week after being wrongly deported to El Salvador, and was wrongly deported after immigration check-in, but later the judge ruled that he could not be deported now.
The check-in in U.S. immigration and customs enforcement in Baltimore is part of his conditions for release from federal detention Friday.
While such meetings are often routine and updated for cases, Abrego's lawyers are expected to be detained after the Trump administration announced over the weekend that it intends to deport him to Uganda.
“There is no need to take him to the Ice Detention Center,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego’s lawyers.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared on court on the ice on Baltimore on Monday.Elizabeth Franz/Reuters
Abrego was held in a detention center in Virginia Monday afternoon, Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
Abrego was deported in March but returned to the United States on June 6 after he was charged and charged with illegally transporting within the United States' American people. He denied the allegations.
Our Knowledge of Abrego Garcia's Case
Abrego filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, “seeking to ensure he does not remove him from the U.S. immigration lawsuit.”
The lawsuit requires a federal judge to issue an order that ABREGO will not be allowed to evacuate from the United States unless there is proper due process to fight his potential deportation.
Sandoval-Moshenberg said the lawsuit challenged Abrego to expel Uganda or any other country unless he held a fair trial. Later, he argued that deporting the client to any country without any credible guarantee that he could stay there would be “a stopover that was just a very inconvenient for El Salvador.”
At a hearing Monday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered Abrego to continue to be detained in the United States – temporarily blocking his deportation until she holds an evidence hearing.
Sinis said there were some “several reasons” that could have her remedy jurisdiction – among which Uganda has not yet agreed to provide Abrego protections, such as being able to walk freely, being granted refugee status and not being redeprived of El Salvador.
Abrego spoke to journalists who were surrounded by families, supporters, faith leaders and his legal team, all calling for freedom before signing in on his ice.
He said in Spanish: “My name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia and I want you to remember that, remember I am free and I can be reunited with my family.”
“It's a miracle. Thank God, thank the community.” “I want to thank each of you who marched. Raise your voice and never stop praying and continue fighting in my name.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was reunited with her family on Friday.Casa
The government said Abrego was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March, violating a 2019 court order. After great legal resistance, he was sent back to the United States in June and attacked by Tennessee's human smuggling charges, which he pleaded not guilty.
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Abrego of being a notorious member of the MS-13 gang, a member his lawyer has denied. His lawyer said he illegally immigrated to the United States at the age of 16 and escaped gang violence in El Salvador in Maryland with his brother.
The Trump administration filed a plea deal with Abrego last week, and his lawyers said in Saturday's court filings that it was part of their efforts to obtain the Tennessee charges, and they believe they think they are “fighting” and “selective” prosecutions.
He could be deported to Costa Rica if he acknowledged and served for the time of his service in Tennessee. The Costa Rica government said he would live there as a free man.
Sandoval-Moshenberg said Abrego would not accept the plea agreement because he “don't accept the charges of his innocence.”
But Sandoval-Moshenberg said it would be “a perfectly reasonable choice” if Abrego was deported to Costa Rica instead of Uganda.
Sandoval-Moshenberg “meets” on Monday.
“This is what we currently have from Costa Rica: the guarantee of refugee status, that they will not re-exit him,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg.
Sandoval-Moshenberg said that while the Abrego case received a lot of attention, others were allegedly deported by mistake.
He said he had received emails from more than a dozen other immigration lawyers who said the same thing happened to their clients.
“The whole business that relocated in three countries is really new; it's just the beginning,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
“We think Abrego Garcia is a unique case,” he said. “But it turns out that it's just the tip of the spear.”
Gary Grumbach reported on Baltimore, Marlene Lenthang of Los Angeles and Rebecca Cohen of New York.