Story Snapshot of what you need to know and why it matters:
- Days after being released from a federal prison in Tennessee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in ICE custody in Baltimore.
- The Federal Government is threatening to once again deport Garcia, this time to Uganda if no plea deal is reached in his federal human smuggling case.
- A lawsuit has been filed challenging his re-confinement pending trial.
Rest of the Story:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in ICE custody just days after a federal magistrate judge ordered his release from a Tennessee prison.
Garcia was deported from Maryland to his native country of El Salvador back in March.
He was later returned to the states to face federal human trafficking charges in Tennessee.
A judge there granted Garcia pre-trial release, but ICE threatened to again deport him if freed.
MORE: Judges in Maryland, Tennessee order Abrego Garcia's release setting up another battle with ICE
In 2019 a U.S. Immigration Judge paved the way for Garcia's removal, however the feds were prohibited from sending him to El Salvador over potential safety risks.
Now ICE is threatening to instead deport Garcia to Uganda.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks in Baltimore before being taken back into ICE custody
His lawyers claim the DOJ tried pressuring Garcia into pleading guilty to the federal charges in exchange for deportation to Costa Rica.
Garcia, however, refused and maintains his innocence.
"There was no need for them to take him into ICE detention, he was already on electronic monitoring from the US Marshal Service and basically on house arrest," said attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. "The only reason they’ve chosen to take him into detention is to punish him."
A judge has already ruled that ICE must give Garcia 72 hours notice prior to any deportation plans so his attorneys may mount a defense.
Moshenberg says a lawsuit's already been filed challenging Garcia's confinement, asking a court to delay any deportation until after the Tennessee trial.
