Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to a notorious El Salvador prison and later returned to the U.S., was released Friday from criminal custody in Tennessee while he awaits trial on federal human smuggling charges.
One of his attorneys, Sean Hecker, said Abrego Garcia was now en route back to his family in Maryland, "after being unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government's vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the Administration's continuing assault on the rule of law."
Shortly after Abrego Garcia's release, immigration officials informed his attorneys that they intend to deport him to Uganda as early as next week, according to a court filing on Saturday. The Trump administration has expanded the use of deportations to third countries, and in this case, Abrego Garcia's attorneys argue the threat is both "vindictive" and "coercive," designed to push Abrego Garcia into a guilty plea.
Abrego Garcia's case raised basic questions about due process under President Trump's ongoing crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally after he was arrested and sent to El Salvador's CECOT prison in March of this year, violating a U.S. immigration judge's 2019 order that Abrego Garcia had a "well-founded fear" of gang persecution there. The White House called that deportation an "administrative error." He was returned to the U.S. in June.
"He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process," attorney Hecker said in an email.
According to Abrego Garcia's lawyers a private security firm will now transport him back to Maryland.
Abrego Garcia's freedom could be short-lived. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could try to detain him upon his return to Maryland. But a federal judge last month said that, should he be released from detention, ICE is not allowed to immediately take him into custody. Instead he has to be transferred to the Baltimore ICE jurisdiction and his attorneys must be given 72 hours notice prior to his deportation.
That notice has already been granted, according to Saturday's court filing. Abrego Garcia's lawyers said that prosecutors had recently offered to deport their client to Costa Rica if he pleads guilty to the charges against him, a deal that expires on Monday. When he moved forward with a release from jail instead, immigration officials ordered him to report to a field office in Maryland on Monday, saying that he could be deported to Uganda within 72 hours.
Abrego Garcia's lawyers said the pair of offers amount to "seemingly unprecedented, coercive, and vindictive coordination" between two separate branches of the federal government.
In a statement to NPR, the Department of Justice wrote, "A federal grand jury has charged Abrego Garcia with serious federal crimes including human trafficking and smuggling offenses, underscoring the clear danger this defendant presents to the community. This defendant can plead guilty and accept responsibility or stand trial before a jury. Either way, we will hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people."
NPR also reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Saturday.
Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador on March 15, and upon his return to the U.S. on June 6, he was immediately detained on criminal charges. He was in U.S. detention for over two months.
The government accused him of transporting migrants without legal status from Texas to other parts of the U.S. for years starting in 2016. He pleaded not guilty on June 13. He's also been accused of being a member of the MS-13 gang, allegations he denies.
Earlier this week, Abrego Garcia's lawyers filed a motion before district Judge Waverly Crenshaw to dismiss the criminal smuggling charges against him, calling them vindictive and political.
Abrego Garcia was born in El Salvador but had been living in Maryland, after entering the U.S. illegally in 2011 when he was 16. According to court documents, he was escaping gang death threats in his native country. He ended up living in Maryland, where his brother lives. There, Abrego Garcia met and married his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, and is raising three kids with her.
He was deported in March back to his home country and immediately imprisoned there, despite a 2019 court order blocking his removal there. His attorneys say he had permission to work in the U.S.
Administration officials now argue that Abrego Garcia can be deported because he crossed into the U.S. illegally and an immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, just not back to his native El Salvador.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes of Tennessee, in a lengthy opinion in June, questioned the merits of the smuggling claims, saying the government's accusations of how many alleged smuggling trips he took "approach physical impossibility."
His lawyers in a court filing wrote that the smuggling charges amounted to "the government's concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back."
NPR's Camila Domonoske contributed to this report.
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