NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Immigration officers say they intend to deport the country Kilmer Abrego Garcia Uganda told the court on Saturday after staying in prison and rejecting an offer to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.
Costa Rica’s offer was made late Thursday, including the requirement that he serve the sentence he pleaded guilty after he was still in prison for the time being, according to a brief matter filed in Tennessee where a criminal case was filed. After Abrego Garcia left prison on Friday, immigration and customs enforcement agencies notified his lawyer that he was deported to Uganda and should report it to immigration authorities on Monday.
Later on Friday, “The government informed Abrego that he must accept his plea in exchange for Costa Rica when he must report to Ice’s Baltimore field office on Monday morning,” his defense attorney wrote.
They refused to say whether he was still considering the offer.
Submitted along with the brief, a letter from the Costa Rican government said that Abrego Garcia was welcomed by the country as a legal immigrant and did not face the possibility of detention.
“The Federal Jury has indicted Abrego Garcia with a serious federal crime… highlighting the clear danger the defendant presents to the community,” said Chad Gilmartin, a spokesman for the Department of Justice.
The Abrego Garcia incident has happened flash point President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was wrong Deported to El Salvador In March, despite the judge’s previous resolve, he faced “established fear” of violence there. Faced with a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the United States in June, but detained him on suspicion of human smuggling.
he Plead not guilty Asking the judge to dismiss the case, claiming it was an attempt to punish him. Challenge to exile in El Salvador. Saturday’s filing came as a supplement to the motion for rejection, stating that the threat of expelling him to Uganda is more evidence that the prosecution is vindictive.
“Despite requesting and receiving assurances from the Costa Rican government that Abrego would be accepted there, the ice representatives notified Abrego’s lawyers that the government intended Abrego to deport him to Uganda,” his lawyer wrote in their submission.
Smuggling fees are attributed to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee due to speeding. There were nine passengers in the car Officers discussed In their own right, allegedly their smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was allowed to continue driving with warnings alone.
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and children. I lived in Maryland For years. He was deemed eligible for pretrial release last month, but he I remained in prison At the request of his lawyer, he feared that the Republican administration would try to do so soon. I’ll deport him again If he is released. a Recent Judgments Another Maryland case required ICE to provide 72 hours of notice before launching a deportation lawsuit. This is the time to allow future exiles to begin their defense. An email from ICE sent to an attorney at 4:01pm on Friday points to that decision.
“This email should inform Uganda that DHS can now delete its client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, and start removing it in 72 hours (if there is no weekend).” Recently Uganda I agreed to take Decorty with me. From the US if they have no criminal history and are not unaccompanied minors.
Federal officials have argued that Abrego Garcia could be deported for illegally coming to the United States. And because the US immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019.
Simon Sandoval Moshenberg, Maryland’s lead lawyer for Abrego Garcia’s Trump administration, said in a statement Saturday that the government is trying to use the immigration system to send him across the world by trying to send him across the world to a country that “has been documented human rights abuse and he doesn’t even speak a language.”
