The federal government said it would deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he declined a plea deal, according to court filings.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday offered Abrego Garcia the option to “live freely” with refugee or residency status in Costa Rica after serving prison time for federal human smuggling charges in exchange for a guilty plea, per his lawyers in the Saturday filings.
Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in his native El Salvador, declined the offer on Friday to instead return to his family in Maryland. He had been imprisoned in a Tennessee jail.
After his return to Maryland, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys were notified later in the day that he must report to an Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore on Monday — and that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to deport him to Uganda.
Uganda is one of the latest countries to strike an agreement with the Trump administration to accept deportees. But some critics have sounded the alarm over human rights violations in the East African country.
“The only thing that happened between Thursday—Costa Rica—and Friday—Uganda— was Mr. Abrego’s exercise of his legal entitlement to release under the Bail Reform Act and the Fifth Amendment…,” Abrego Garcia’s defense team wrote.
“There can be only one interpretation of these events: the [Justice Department], DHS, and ICE are using their 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 Friday release from prison is the first time Abrego Garcia has been outside custody since March, when he was deported due to an “administrative error” and sent to a megaprison in El Salvador despite an immigration judge barring his return to his home country in 2019.
The Trump administration has previously mused about deporting Abrego Garcia to a third country.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday condemned the El Salvadorian native’s release, calling it a “new low.”
“Today, we reached a new low with this publicity hungry Maryland judge mandating this illegal alien who is a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator be allowed free,” she said in a statement.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys did not offer any additional comments on the matter, and DHS did not immediately respond to inquiries.
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