by Vanguard Staff
BALTIMORE — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was previously wrongfully deported to El Salvador, was arrested Monday at his scheduled check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the Trump administration announced its intent to deport him to Uganda, a country with which he has no ties.
Earlier this year, the administration admitted to deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in violation of a court order. According to his attorneys, he endured isolation, beatings and psychological torture while imprisoned there. Following multiple court orders, he was returned to the United States in June, only to be indicted on federal smuggling charges out of Tennessee, charges he has denied.
On Friday, over government objections, a federal court released him to his family in Maryland while his case proceeded. As part of the proceedings, the administration offered him a plea agreement that would require deportation to Costa Rica. When Abrego Garcia rejected that deal, officials notified his attorneys that he would instead be deported to Uganda. He was taken into custody during his ICE check-in Monday morning.
His lawyers at CASA held a vigil and rally outside the Baltimore field office as news of his arrest spread. Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego’s attorneys, said, “There was no need to take him into ICE detention. … The only reason they took him into detention was to punish him” for exercising his constitutional right to fight his proceedings.
Sarah Mehta, deputy director of policy and government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union, issued a statement condemning the administration’s handling of the case. “The Trump administration’s obsessive and petty cruelty is on full display in this latest move to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father they admitted to wrongfully deporting to a torture prison, to a country with which he has no relationship,” Mehta said. “This vindictive behavior is not just about Mr. Abrego Garcia; this is once again the administration showing that it can weaponize the law to punish people standing up for their rights and make our immigrant neighbors afraid of being rapidly exiled, including to places where they may be persecuted.”
Before his detention Monday morning, Abrego addressed reporters, saying in Spanish, “My name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I want you to remember this, remember that I am free and I was able to be reunited with my family.” Through a translator, he added, “This was a miracle. Thank you to God and thank you to the community. I want to thank each and every one of you who marched. Lift your voices, never stop praying and continue to fight in my name.”
Abrego filed a new lawsuit in federal court in Maryland challenging his removal. His attorneys argue that deporting him to Uganda or any other country without guarantees of safety is tantamount to delivering him back to El Salvador, where courts have already determined he cannot safely return. Sandoval-Moshenberg later said deportation to Costa Rica could be a “perfectly reasonable option” given Costa Rica’s assurances of refugee protections, but warned that. absent those guarantees, deportation to a third country risks being only “a way station on the way right back to El Salvador.”
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis temporarily blocked the deportation, ruling Monday that Abrego must remain detained in the United States while she considers his case. Xinis said there are “several grounds” for the court to exercise jurisdiction, noting Uganda has not agreed to provide him legal protections such as refugee status or assurances against re-deportation.
While Abrego’s case has drawn widespread attention, his lawyers said he is not alone. Sandoval-Moshenberg said more than a dozen other attorneys have contacted him with accounts of similar wrongful deportations of their clients. “This whole business with third-country removals is really brand new; it’s just something that started,” he said. “We thought that Abrego Garcia was sort of a one-of-a-kind case. But it turned out really to just be the tip of the spear.”
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father . . . ”
Gee, if it wasn’t for the fact every news outlet left of Fox News describes him the same way, I’d have no idea he was from Maryland, and a father. And from Maryland. And a father.
“As part of the proceedings, the administration offered him a plea agreement that would require deportation to Costa Rica.”
Does he have ties to Costa Rica?
“When Abrego Garcia rejected that deal, officials notified his attorneys that he would instead be deported to Uganda.”
This is beyond bizarre, sending people to rando countries.
“Uganda has not agreed to provide him legal protections such as refugee status or assurances against re-deportation.”
Say what? Why not send him to the Moon for all the sense this makes.
Somehow I can’t get myself to feel sorry for the human trafficking gang member.
“for the human trafficking gang member.”
This is a lie.
No it’s not according to authorities that know a lot more than you do.
“Secretary Noem Announces ICE Arrest of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an MS-13 Gang Member, Human Trafficker, Wife Beater, Child Predator and Criminal Illegal Alien”
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/25/secretary-noem-announces-ice-arrest-kilmar-abrego-garcia-ms-13-gang-member-human
It’s a lie, Keith. Secretary Noem is not a reliable source for anything. At least two judges have rejected the assertion about gang membership. Also, transporting undocumented immigrants is not trafficking.
“There is no evidence before the Court that Abrego: has markings or tattoos showing gang affiliation; has working relationships with known MS-13 members; ever told any of the witnesses that he is a MS-13 member; or has ever been affiliated with any sort of gang activity,” Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw said in the July decision ordering Abrego Garcia’s release.
Yet Secretary Noem keeps repeating the lies, and you repeat them.
You can’t believe judges anymore as we’re finding out that many will rule against anything this administration does. And in many if not most cases their findings are being overruled.
I’ll take DHS Sec. Noem over liberal judges any day.
That’s a half accurate comment.
Don says: “At least two judges have rejected the assertion about gang membership.”
Are you sure that they have “rejected the assertion”? Or, have they determined that it hasn’t been proven one way or another? And therefore cannot be used as “punishment” of some type? (Actually, I’m not sure if it’s illegal to be in a gang – maybe it’s the activities that are usually associated with them that are illegal. And if you do so as part of a gang, there’s an “enhancement” of charges, as I understand it.)
Don says: “Also, transporting undocumented immigrants is not trafficking.”
It can be – depends on other circumstances.
Being in the country illegally is enough to deport someone – but not enough to deport them to a prison in El Salvador.