The Maryland resident whose wrongful deportation fueled protests over the Trump administration plan to send migrants to a Salvadoran mega-prison was detained by U.S. immigration officials on Monday and could be deported again, his lawyer said.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 30, reported to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore three days after being released from criminal custody in Tennessee and returned to his home in Maryland. He has spent more than five months in detention, including time in his native El Salvador at a prison known for its harsh conditions.
Abrego Garcia arrived at the ICE office with his wife and brother and was quickly surrounded by a crowd of supporters chanting “Si se puede,” Spanish for “Yes we can.” He and his wife embraced in the building’s lobby before proceeding through a security checkpoint.
HIs lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said his client was detained upon reporting for an interview. U.S. officials have offered to deport him to Costa Rica if he pleads guilty to transporting migrants living illegally in the U.S., his lawyers say.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say they have entered plea discussions with the government to possibly avoid deportation to Uganda, which they say would be “far more dangerous” than Costa Rica.
“They’re holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “They’re weaponizing the immigration system in a way that’s completely unconstitutional.”
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed: Man at the center of high-profile immigration fight released from jail
Abrego Garcia filed lawsuit in Maryland
Abrego Garcia has filed a federal lawsuit in Maryland seeking an order to ban deporting him anywhere unless he has had the chance to contest being sent there, Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has blamed “activist liberal judges” for blocking administration efforts to remove people living in the U.S. illegally who were suspected of committing crimes.
“By ordering this monster loose on America’s streets, this judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people,” Noem said. “We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country.”
Trump administration has focused on Abrego Garcia
Abrego Garcia, a sheetmetal worker living in suburban Washington, DC, became the face of President Donald Trump’s sweeping and controversial deportation tactics.
Abrego Garcia entered the country illegally around 2012 as a teen. Immigration officials issued a final order of removal in 2019, but they said he could not be released to his home country of El Salvador because of credible fears of persecution by gangs in that country.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kilmar Abrego Garcia again detained by US immigration officials
