Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, faces deportation again as he reports to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Baltimore on Monday.
Abrego Garcia’s scheduled check-in comes just days after the 30-year-old was released from a jail in Tennessee, where he had been detained since June after being brought back to the U.S. following his mistaken deportation to El Salvador, The Associated Press reported.Â
Immigration officials said they plan to deport him to Uganda, which recently agreed to accept certain deportees, after Abrego Garcia declined an offer to be removed to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.
According to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, the federal government has given him until Monday to accept the plea deal and deportation to Costa Rica, or “that offer will be off the table forever.” The attorneys declined to say if he’s still considering the deal.
Abrego Garcia returned to his American wife and children in Maryland on Friday.
The Costa Rican government said that Abrego Garcia would be welcomed as a legal immigrant and wouldn’t face detention, according to federal court filings.
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement that the criminal charges underscore how Abrego Garcia presents a “clear danger” and that he can either plead guilty or stand trial.
“Either way, we will hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people,” Gilmartin said.
Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, then brought back to the U.S. in June, and was detained on human smuggling charges. He has pleaded not guilty and asked the court to dismiss his case.
In 2022, Abrego Garcia was stopped by officers for speeding in Tennessee. Officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling after seeing nine passengers in the car. However, they let Abrego Garcia continue driving with only a warning.
Federal officials have said that he can be deported because he entered the U.S. illegally, and an immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, just not to his native El Salvador, for fear of violence.
