By Tom Ozimek
Contributing Writer
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national facing federal human smuggling charges, was arrested by federal immigration authorities on Monday and is being processed for removal from the United States.
“Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement on X.
“President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer.”
Abrego Garcia, 30, surrendered on Monday morning to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore, and now faces possible deportation to Uganda. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition in a Maryland court immediately after his surrender, triggering a federal court order that temporarily shields him from removal. The standing order bars Abrego Garcia’s deportation until 4 p.m. on the second business day after filing, unless a judge extends the terms.
His lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said they will seek an additional court ruling barring Abrego Garcia’s deportation “pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country.” The standing order offers only a short-term pause, and Abrego Garcia’s attorneys want a broader injunction that would prevent ICE from transferring him abroad until the court fully considers the legality of his removal.
Abrego Garcia had already been deported in March to a prison in El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered his return in June, but he was indicted weeks later in Tennessee on smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. Prosecutors allege he conspired to transport nine illegal immigrant passengers, while defense lawyers say he was merely pulled over for speeding and released with a warning.
The Justice Department has pressed those charges forward even as ICE moved to arrange his deportation. On Friday, federal Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes signed an order granting his pretrial release, requiring electronic monitoring, third-party custody, and compliance with any conditions imposed by ICE. The order also directed federal agencies to ensure that, if Abrego Garcia were detained by ICE, he would still have access to his defense counsel to prepare for trial.
The Trump administration then pivoted to new deportation plans. Court filings show that Costa Rica had formally agreed to accept Abrego Garcia as a refugee after any sentence in the United States, promising not to detain or return him to El Salvador. However, hours after his release, ICE officials notified his lawyers that the Department of Homeland Security instead intended to deport him to Uganda.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers stated in a supplemental filing on Saturday that prosecutors had offered him a deal on the eve of his release: plead guilty to both smuggling counts, agree to stay in custody through Monday, and, in return, be deported to Costa Rica. When he rejected the offer, his lawyers said, ICE shifted course and informed him he would instead have to report to a facility in Baltimore to face deportation.
Defense attorneys called the shift coercive, arguing it was retaliation for Abrego Garcia’s refusal to plead guilty, accusing the Trump administration of using “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 U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, which is leading the case, did not respond to an earlier request for comment.
The government has accused Abrego Garcia of domestic abuse and of belonging to MS-13, the Salvadoran gang labeled a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. He rejects both claims.
President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News on Sunday that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was inevitable.
Uganda is “on the table,” he said, adding that the U.S. government has an agreement with the African country.
Abrego Garcia “is absolutely going to be deported,” Homan said, adding that he “can enjoy the little time he has with his family.”
“For the person who says we’re not going to separate family, his family can go with him, because he’s leaving,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
