Wrongly deported migrant detained again in US amid immigration crackdown

A Salvadoran man, whose wrongful deportation to his native country is at the center of a row over US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, has been detained again in the state of Maryland and is facing forced repatriation.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March and then sent back to the United States, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore on Monday.

Noem confirmed that the ICE was "processing him for deportation,” with Garcia's lawyers stressing that the US government intends to send him to far-flung Uganda.

The 30-year-old’s deportation took place despite a 2019 US immigration court ruling that he, facing alleged charges of transporting migrants living illegally in the United States, should not be extradited to his native country due to a risk of persecution by gangs.

Abrego, who was brought back in June to face the charges, was released on bond from criminal custody in Tennessee on Friday after pleading not guilty.

He was required to check in with ICE in Baltimore on Monday as one of the conditions of his release.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego’s attorneys, said his client was taken into custody by ICE when he turned up for the appointment.

"The notice stated that the reason was an interview," Sandoval-Moshenberg said. "Clearly that was false. There was no need for them to take him into ICE detention.”

"He was already on electronic monitoring from the US Marshals Service and basically on house arrest," he said. "The only reason that they've chosen to take him into detention is to punish him."

Abrego has denied any wrongdoing, while the Trump administration claims he is a violent MS-13 gang member who smuggled undocumented migrants into the country.

According to his lawyers, US officials have offered to deport Abrego to Costa Rica - like El Salvador, a Spanish-speaking country in Central America - if he pleads guilty to the charges.

Without a guilty plea, Abrego could be removed to Uganda, an East African country that is "far more dangerous," his lawyers said in court documents filed on Saturday.

532,000 migrants face deportation after Trump revokes protections

The Trump administration revokes the legal status of more than half a million immigrants.

Abrego's lawyers acknowledged they have entered plea discussions with the US government to possibly avoid deportation to Uganda.

"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."

Sandoval-Moshenberg underlined that Abrego could not lawfully be deported elsewhere without assurances that he would not be sent back to El Salvador.

"We don't know if Uganda will even let him walk around freely in Kampala or whether he'll be inside of a Ugandan jail cell," Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

During a hearing conducted by telephone on Monday afternoon, Maryland-based US District Judge Paula Xinis said she planned to hold additional court proceedings on the US government’s plan to deport Abrego to Uganda.

The judge barred the Trump administration from removing him until such a hearing could be held.

Abrego, a sheet metal worker who immigrated to the United States, had been living in Maryland with his wife, their child and two of her children - all of whom are American citizens - when he was arrested and sent to El Salvador.

His lawyers have said the administration's handling of the case is indicative of the Republican president's push to expand executive power in immigration matters at the expense of due process mandated by the US Constitution.

Trump's administration has said aggressive deportations are needed after years of insufficient enforcement, including under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.

Trump had promised on his campaign trail to deport millions of people who are in the US illegally, and as president, he has also been ending legal pathways for immigrants to enter the US and to stay.

His anti-immigration policy has repeatedly been challenged across the United States by federal judges.

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