Maryland Man Facing Deportation After Unlawful Deportation to El Salvador, Sparks Outcry from Activists and Politicians
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was illegally deported to El Salvador earlier this year, was apprehended by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after voluntarily surrendering at a Baltimore facility.
Outside the same ICE facility, attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg addressed a crowd following Abrego Garcia’s detention. The individual had been ordered to report there after his release from criminal custody, awaiting a federal trial set for January.
In a rally with family members, immigration activists, and community leaders earlier on Monday, Abrego Garcia expressed optimism and determination, saying: “Promise me that you will continue to pray, continue to fight, resist and love, not just for me, but for everybody.”
The Trump administration warned it might relocate Abrego Garcia to Uganda as early as this week. Upon his return from Tennessee last weekend, where he was held pending trial in a federal human smuggling case, the Salvadoran national faced these potential deportation proceedings.
Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, the chief of organizing and leadership at CASA, criticized the administration for using Abrego Garcia as a scapegoat to assert their authority over illegal deportation practices. “They’re throwing the entire federal apparatus at one father of three,” she stated.
On Friday, a Department of Homeland Security official informed Abrego Garcia’s legal team of potential plans to relocate him to Uganda imminently. This decision came mere minutes after his release from criminal custody pending trial.
The Trump administration had brought Abrego Garca back to the US in June to face federal charges, having previously deported him in March to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador, despite a 2019 court order barring his removal to Central America.
For now, under a federal judge’s ruling in Maryland, Abrego Garcia is monitored by the ICE Baltimore field office, requiring occasional check-ins with an immigration officer. His order stipulates that he should be allowed to continue working and living in the state, but it does not prevent the administration from deporting him to a third country like Uganda if due process rights are respected.
Activists supporting Abrego Garcia on Monday accused the Trump administration of retaliating against him for contesting his unlawful deportation and exercising his constitutional rights.
“The only reason they’ve chosen to take him into detention is to punish him,” Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, explained.
Abrego Garcia’s legal team also argued in court documents that the administration’s offers of future deportation to Costa Rica in exchange for his guilty plea were evidence of their desire to punish him for challenging his wrongful deportation. They informed the judge in his criminal case that Abrego Garcia had until Monday morning “to accept a plea deal for deportation to Costa Rica, or else that offer will be rescinded permanently.”
However, Abrego Garcia did not take the deal proposed by the Trump administration, which would have eventually deported him to Costa Rica, according to sources familiar with the case.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke with Abrego Garcia for the first time since their meeting in El Salvador in April. Van Hollen reassured the father of three and his wife that they would persist in fighting for justice and due process. “If his rights are denied, the rights of everyone else are at risk,” he emphasized in a statement.
Before reporting to the ICE facility, Abrego Garcia expressed gratitude for memories of his family, which sustained him during his detention. “When I was detained, I remembered memories with my family: going to the park with them, going to the trampoline with my children,” he said. “Those moments will continue to give me hope to continue in this fight.”