AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The future of Kilmar Abrego Garcia is uncertain at this hour. The Maryland man was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador back in March. He later returned to the U.S. And just this morning, he was taken into custody during an immigration check-in. Now the U.S. government is trying to deport him to Uganda, something that his attorneys are calling a, quote, "vindictive act of retribution." NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán has been following this long-running case and joins us now. Hi, Sergio.
SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK. Just first remind us - why is this case involving Abrego Garcia especially important at this moment?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Yeah, at the core of this case are questions about due process under President Trump's ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Abrego Garcia came from El Salvador to the U.S. illegally in 2011, when he was 16. He alleges he was escaping gang death threats there. He has not been convicted of any crimes. But Abrego Garcia was arrested during a traffic stop in Maryland in March and three days later was sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador. And that is despite a 2019 immigration court ruling barring his deportation there - his home country - because of what the judge called well-founded fear of gang persecution.
Now, the Trump administration admitted that Abrego Garcia's removal was an administrative error. He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face new, unrelated charges of human smuggling. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and was released from federal custody on Friday, pending the criminal trial. That same day, he received a notice from ICE indicating he was going to be detained again.
CHANG: Right. And today, he presented himself to a mandatory ICE check-in and was, I understand, immediately taken back into immigration custody. Can we just listen to his lawyer here? This is Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg speaking earlier today.
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SIMON SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: The only reason that they've chosen to take him into detention is to punish him - to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights, his constitutional right to fight back against being illegally deported to El Salvador.
CHANG: OK, Sergio, is he likely to be sent out of the country again?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: So Ailsa, based on a prior court order, the earliest he could be removed is on Wednesday.
CHANG: OK.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: But earlier today, Abrego Garcia's lawyers were in court arguing to postpone that date while they fight the detention and deportation efforts. And the federal judge in Maryland - in the Maryland hearing, the challenge said she is inclined to push that date, meaning she is expected to hold Abrego Garcia's deportation until at least this Friday. She also ordered Abrego Garcia not to be moved from the Virginia detention center where he's now being held, and she has asked for another hearing on Friday.
CHANG: OK. Well, I saw that Abrego Garcia talked to reporters earlier today as he was preparing to enter his check-in with ICE in Baltimore. What did he say exactly?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Yeah, I mean, he was received by a big group of supporters who were rallying for him outside the Baltimore ICE building. There, he said, spending the last few days with his family gave him hope.
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KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: "To all the families who have also suffered separations or who live under the constant threat of being separated," Abrego Garcia said, "I want to tell you that even though this injustice is hurting us hard, we must not lose hope." He said this while flanked by his wife, members of his union and religious leaders.
CHANG: Well, finally, I just want to ask you - why Uganda? I mean, as we've mentioned, he's from El Salvador originally, right?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Right, right. I mean, he has no connection to Uganda, but the Trump administration has an agreement with the country. Officials there have said they are open to receiving deportees as long as they don't have a criminal record. Abrego Garcia has been indicted but has not been convicted of any crimes. The Trump administration has also accused him of being a member of the MS-13 gang, something he has repeatedly denied. Now, the U.S. government did offer Abrego Garcia a deportation to Costa Rica in exchange of a guilty plea on all the charges and serving the imposed sentence in the U.S., but he did not take it.
CHANG: That is NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán. Thank you so much, Sergio.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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