Man wrongly deported to El Salvador by U.S. seeks asylum to avoid deportation to Uganda

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose caseful has amount to capsule often of U.S. Chairwoman Donald Trump's hard-line immigration agenda, wants to seek asylum in the United States, his lawyers told a federal judge on Wednesday.

Abrego Garcia, 30, was detained on Monday by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore after leaving a Tennessee jail on Friday. The Trump administration said it intends to deport him to the African country of Uganda.

Administration officials have said he's part of the dangerous MS-13 gang, an allegation Abrego Garcia denies.

The Salvadoran national's lawyers are fighting the deportation efforts in court, arguing he has the right to express fear of persecution and torture in Uganda.

Abrego Garcia has also told immigration authorities he would prefer to be sent to Costa Rica if he must be removed from the U.S.

A U.S. Immigration judge denied his request for asylum in 2019 because he applied more than a year after he had fled to the U.S. He left El Salvador at the age of 16, around 2011, to join his brother, who had become a U.S. Citizen and was living in Maryland.

Although he denied asylum, the immigration judge issued an order shielding Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he faced credible threats of violence from a gang there that had terrorized him and his family.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia detained by ICE again

He was granted a form of protection known as "withholding of removal," which prohibits the government from sending him to El Salvador but allows his deportation to another country.

Following the 2019 ruling, Abrego Garcia was released under federal supervision and continued to live with his American wife and children in Maryland. He checked in with ICE each year, received a federal work permit and was working as a sheet metal apprentice earlier this year, his lawyers have said.

But in March, the Trump administration mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia to a notorious El Salvador prison, alleging he was a member of MS-13.

The allegation stems from a day in 2019 when Abrego Garcia sought work as a day labourer at a Home Depot in Maryland. He was detained by police but was never charged — and has repeatedly denied the allegation. He was turned over to ICE, and that's when he applied for asylum for the first time.

The Trump administration's deportation of Abrego Garcia in March violated the immigration judge's 2019 order barring his removal to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia's wife sued to bring him back. Facing mounting pressure and a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. In June, where he was charged with human smuggling, a federal offence.

He has pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying it was filed to punish him for challenging his deportation.

The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee. There were nine passengers in the SUV, and Abrego Garcia was carrying $1,400 US in cash. While officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling, he was allowed to drive away with only a warning.

A Homeland Security agent testified that he didn't begin investigating until this April, when the government was facing mounting pressure to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. The trial is set for January.

A federal judge in Tennessee released Abrego Garcia from jail on Friday after ruling that he was not a flight risk or a danger. The Trump administration moved to deport Abrego Garcia again on Monday, alleging he is a danger.

Abrego Garcia then stated his intent to reopen his immigration case in Maryland and to seek asylum again, his lawyers said on Wednesday. Asylum, as defined under U.S. Law, provides a green card and a path to citizenship. Abrego Garcia can still challenge his deportation to Uganda, or any other country, on the grounds that it is unsafe.

His lawyers say sending him to Uganda would be punishment for successfully fighting his deportation to El Salvador, refusing to plead guilty to the smuggling charges and seeking release from jail in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers have filed a federal lawsuit to ensure that he can exercise his constitutionally protected right to fight deportation. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, who is overseeing the lawsuit, has ruled that the U.S. Government cannot remove Abrego Garcia from the country as the lawsuit plays out.

Man mistakenly deported to El Salvador back in U.S. To face criminal charges | Hanomansing Tonight

---

---