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Kilmar Abrego Garcia citizenship status: Can he be deported to Uganda?
Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case became a flash point in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia might be deported to Uganda, after he refused an offer to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for staying in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges, Associated Press reported. Garcia's lawyers told a court on Saturday that immigration officials had informed them of their intent.
Garcia was released on parole from the jail near Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, and returned to his family in Maryland. Here's why he could still be deported.
Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia a US citizen?
Kilmar Abrego Garcia entered the US illegally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has noted. “He is also an illegal alien from El Salvador, a fact that he openly admits,” a press release reads.
Also Read | Kilmar Abrego Garcia is freed from jail as he awaits human smuggling trial. What's next?
As per the DHS, this gives them and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ‘full lawful authority’ to place Garcia in removal proceedings. Notably, Garcia in 2019, secured a Withholding of Removal order from an immigration judge in Maryland. A copy of a Department of Justice document from the same year, as shared by the DHS notes that Garcia “stated that he intends to file for asylum, his eligibility appears limited to withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture due to his failure to file an application within one year of his arrival in the United States.”
The US govt's case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
The DHS noted that Garcia was validated to be a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) Gang in 2019, by the Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit. He was found with rolls of cash, drugs, and two other MS-13 gang members. In 2022, Garcia was suspected of human trafficking, a DHS report shows.
Documents also show that Jennifer Vasquez, his wife, sought protection from Abrego Garcia, claiming violence.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said of Garcia's release “Today, we reached a new low with this publicity hungry Maryland judge mandating this illegal alien who is a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator be allowed free. By ordering this monster loose on America’s streets, this judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people. We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country.”
Notably, Garcia's lawyers have maintained that he is not part of the MS-13 gang. They say that Garcia illegally immigrated to the US when he was 16 to join his brother in Maryland and escape El Salvador's gang violence.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case became a flash point in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, despite a judge’s earlier determination that he faced a “well-founded fear” of violence there. This deportation conflicted with the earlier 2019 order that notes concerns of Garcia being persecuted by violent gangs there.
Facing a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the US in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges. Garcia's trial is in January, but given he is an illegal alien, the Trump administration could technically deport him to Uganda - since the 2019 protective order does not bar deportation to another nation. It is unclear as of now if Garcia would be in jail there, or if he would be a free person.
Uganda recently agreed to take deportees from the US if they do not have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors.
(With AP inputs)
