Less than a day after being released from jail in Tennessee, Kilmar Ábrego García was informed on Saturday that U.S. immigration officials plan to deport him to Uganda.
Court filings reveal that Ábrego García had turned down a deal that would have seen him deported to Costa Rica in exchange for staying in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges. Instead, he chose to await trial in Maryland, where he lives with his American wife and children. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ábrego García became a symbol of former President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies after being wrongly deported to his native El Salvador in March.
He first entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 as a teenager, fleeing gang violence. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to El Salvador, ruling that he was likely to face gang persecution if returned.
After his wrongful deportation, the Trump administration faced mounting pressure to bring him back to the U.S. Following a Supreme Court order, he was returned in June but was immediately detained on human smuggling charges, which his lawyers have called “preposterous.”
The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, when Ábrego García was found driving with nine passengers. Tennessee police suspected smuggling but released him without filing charges.
According to his attorney, immigration officials have now ordered him to appear at a Baltimore facility on Monday.
Trump officials have repeatedly accused him of ties to the MS-13 gang, a claim he and his family strongly deny. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the administration “will not stop fighting until he’s out of the country.”
