Salvadoran National Kilmar Abrego Garcia‘s legal battle over his deportation and criminal charges reached a new phase this week after the illegal immigrant was taken into federal immigration custody Monday morning, moving him one step closer to being removed from the United States, even as his attorneys fight the removal.
Abrego Garcia’s March deportation and subsequent return to the U.S. in June to face federal criminal charges have led to a protracted fight over his removal, particularly now that he has been released from prison pending the criminal trial. Here is where the efforts to deport Abrego Garcia stand.
Deportation proceedings
Abrego Garcia’s legal battle began when he was removed from the country earlier this year. In April, the Supreme Court ruled that authorities should facilitate his return to the U.S. and resume his deportation proceedings as if he had never been removed to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia had a final deportation issued in 2019, which permitted his removal to any country except El Salvador, for which he was granted a protective order.
With Abrego Garcia back in the U.S. and released from prison pending federal human smuggling charges, Immigration and Customs Enforcement quickly detained him at a mandatory check-in in Maryland on Monday morning.
Per a July order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, Abrego Garcia was required to be allowed to return to ICE supervision in Maryland and be given 72 hours’ notice before being deported to a third country. The judge said in her order that she would “have nothing further to say” if the Trump administration followed those parameters and carried out his removal from the U.S. lawfully.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said the government offered to deport him to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea to his federal criminal charges, which he declined. On Friday, the same day as his release from prison, Abrego Garcia was served with a notice that the administration planned on deporting him to Uganda within 72 hours.
During a scheduled check-in at a Maryland ICE facility on Monday, Abrego Garcia was taken into custody by federal immigration officials, prompting a new legal challenge against him.
Habeas Corpus petition
Shortly after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition in a bid to halt the illegal immigrant’s immediate deportation.
In the lawsuit, Abrego Garcia argued the government did not give “him an opportunity to be heard on his expressed fears of persecution and torture in” Uganda, and ordered his removal to be paused until those fears can be heard.
The legal filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland was assigned to Xinis, the same judge who handled Abrego Garcia’s earlier case over his deportation to El Salvador. Xinis scheduled a hearing for Monday afternoon, hours after the new lawsuit was filed.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told reporters ahead of the Monday hearing that he would seek an injunction blocking his client from being deported pending “his legal immigration proceedings to determine whether or not he may be deported.”
At Monday’s hearing, Xinis ordered the government not to deport Abrego Garcia pending a full hearing before her court and to keep him in the same detention facility in Virginia until a hearing schedule is set. She also asked the DOJ and Abrego Garcia’s lawyers to come to an agreement by Tuesday morning over a briefing and hearing schedule for the proceedings.
Abrego Garcia will likely be deported, but the lawsuit is set to determine which country he ends up in. The federal government has said it is intent on deporting Abrego Garcia to Uganda, while in the lawsuit, Abrego Garcia is fighting to be deported to Costa Rica.
JUDGE HALTS REMOVAL OF ABREGO GARCIA TO UGANDA PENDING LEGAL CHALLENGE
The illegal immigrant is saying his preference is to be deported to Costa Rica due to that government’s willingness to take him as a refugee or resident and promise not to detain him upon arrival. He also filed a notice saying he fears persecution and torture in Uganda, adding he is concerned authorities in the African country would deport him back to El Salvador.
The lawsuit asks Xinis to order that the administration seek to deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica before attempting to remove him to Uganda, among other requests.