Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? Man at the centre of Trump’s immigration crackdown faces deportation to Uganda

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man who became a flashpoint of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown against immigration, has been detained again by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faces another deportation threat. The Salvadoran man was wrongly deported by the US authorities earlier this year, drawing outrage across the nation. Garcia was detained at his check-in appointment in Baltimore, days after he was freed from federal custody in Tennessee.

Abrego’s lawyers have asked the courts to dismiss his case on the grounds that the administration’s move is a vindictive attempt to punish him for challenging his initial deportation to El Salvador. However, his case saw a new turn when the immigration officials on Friday revealed that he would be deported to Uganda, a country he has no known connection to, after he declined an offer to be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.

His case has sparked outrage among legal experts and human rights advocates, who say his deportation is being rushed without a court hearing, violating US laws.

Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old resident of the eastern state of Maryland, is one of over 200 migrants who were deported to a prison in El Salvador earlier this year, in March, as part of Trump’s crackdown against illegal migrants. Abrego, who grew up in El Salvador, fled the country at the age of 16 after a local gang extorted and terrorised his family, according to court records. He travelled to Maryland, where his brother lives as a US citizen. However, he was not authorised to stay.

He later started working in construction and met Jennifer Vasquez Sura, whom he married later. The couple has two children.

Why was he deported to El Salvador?

In March 2019, Abrego approached a Home Depot, seeking work as a labourer, but was detained by the police. According to the records, a criminal informant told police that he was a member of MS-13, an international criminal gang. While Abrego was not charged, he was handed over to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Abrego and his legal team have denied any connection with the gang. In addition, he does not have any criminal record in either the US or El Salvador. Although his asylum was denied by a US immigration judge, he was granted protection from being deported to El Salvador over fears of gang prosecution. He was released and placed under federal supervision after receiving a work permit, and was supposed to check in every year with ICE.

In March this year, the Trump administration deported Abrego to a prison in El Salvador after designating MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organisation. At the prison, Abrego claimed that he was beaten and psychologically tortured, allegations which were denied by the country’s president, Nayib Bukele.

Will he be deported to Uganda?

Following a Supreme Court order demanding that the Trump administration “facilitate” his return, Abrego was returned in June. Upon his return, he was arrested and charged with smuggling migrants, following which he remained in a Tennessee jail.

After his release on Friday (Aug 22), the government told Abrego that he may be deported to Uganda. According to his attorneys, he had until Monday to accept a plea offer involving pleading guilty to human smuggling charges in exchange for being deported to Costa Rica, where he would be treated as a refugee. He reportedly declined the offer.

The Independent reported that unless Abrego changes his plea in the Tennessee federal case, it is likely that he could be deported to Uganda as soon as Wednesday.

US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday (Aug 25) that ICE law enforcement is processing his deportation. “President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator, to terrorise American citizens any longer,” she said.

Watch | Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from jail: What’s next after his shocking release?