BALTIMORE, Md. (WTVF) — A federal judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran man at the center of a nationwide debate over due process rights, after he was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, overseeing Abrego Garcia's lawsuit, ruled that ICE is "absolutely forbidden to remove Abrego Garcia from the continental US" while she reviews whether his right to due process has been violated.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys filed the lawsuit almost immediately after he reported to the ICE facility in Baltimore on Monday morning for a scheduled check-in as part of his release from a Tennessee jail pending trial on two human smuggling charges.
"Continue to pray, continue to fight, resist and love not just for me, but for everybody," Abrego Garcia said through tears to family and supporters.
Supporters began chanting "shame" after attorneys told the crowd that instead of a check-in, Abrego Garcia was taken into custody and began the process for deportation.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later confirmed this on X, writing that "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 terrorize American citizens any longer."
It was well established back in June that there was a very real possibility ICE could intervene and deport Abrego Garcia, as soon as he was released from custody.
Attorneys argued during the arraignment that no matter whether he was offered pretrial release, ICE would most likely intervene and detain Abrego Garcia.
Eventually, attorneys agreed it was best to keep Abrego Garcia in a Tennessee jail while they wait for clarity from ICE and the Department of Justice on their intentions for Abrego Garcia.
The 30-day stay on release ended Friday, and Abrego Garcia walked out of a Putnam County jail.
Rejected plea deal leads to Uganda deportation threat
This latest development comes after Abrego Garcia turned down a plea deal over the weekend that could have sent him to Costa Rica.
His attorneys say that as a result, the Trump administration is trying to punish their client by sending him to the East African country of Uganda, where Abrego Garcia worries the publicity could put his life at risk.
"I fear persecution in Uganda on account of my race, nationality, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group. I also fear torture by or at the acquiescence of a public official in that country," Abrego Garcia wrote.
Abrego Garcia also expressed concern that Ugandan officials will find a way to re-deport him to El Salvador, where he fears being tortured again.
History of wrongful deportation
The same judge overseeing Abrego Garcia's current lawsuit is also handling his case over being wrongfully deported in March.
A 2019 court order required that Abrego Garcia, who had entered the country illegally, could not be sent back to El Salvador, where he feared for his life at the hands of local gangs.
ICE defied the court order by deporting Abrego Garcia to a mega-prison in El Salvador in March, calling it an administrative error.
It wasn't until the U.S. Supreme Court compelled the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia that he was brought back to Tennessee and charged with two counts of human smuggling.
Abrego Garcia walked off a plane and into a Tennessee jail, where he faced human smuggling charges that some argued were politically motivated.
The two-count indictment unsealed the moment Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S., accused him of being a part of a conspiracy “to bring undocumented aliens to the United States from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and elsewhere, ultimately passing through Mexico before they cross into Texas.”
The Trump administration has since threatened to deport Abrego Garcia and others to countries where they have no connection - like Mexico or South Sudan.
Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes of Tennessee had previously intended on ordering Abrego Garcia's release pending trial, after determining that Abrego Garcia was not a flight risk or a threat to the public.
Advocacy groups speak out
Members of the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition traveled to Baltimore to support Abrego Garcia, many of whom had backed him at court appearances in Tennessee.
"This presidential administration is doubling down on the oldest trick in the authoritarian playbook: demonizing immigrants in order to justify steamrolling our rights while consolidating power for themselves," said TIRRC Advocacy Manager Selah Torralba.
"It's been a wave of emotions for all of us just thinking about how this poor family has been treated by people in power all to make an example and to send a dangerous message that if we speak up for our rights, they will retaliate against us and we shouldn't stand for that as Americans," said TIRRC Executive Director Lisa Sherman Luna.
Sherman Luna said the threat of being deported to a third country should be alarming for everyone.
"It's illegal, it's dangerous, it's inhuman, and if they can do it to an immigrant, we have to be very aware that their next step is to send US citizens overseas when we disagree with what they have to say or the way that they're doing things," Sherman Luna said.
Legal proceedings continue
Attorneys say Abrego Garcia is currently being held in an ICE detention facility in Virginia while Maryland courts decide what to do next. Tennessee prosecutors have said that if Abrego Garcia is deported, there's virtually no chance they can bring him back to continue with his trial, currently scheduled for January 2026.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys argue that this was never about the charges Abrego Garcia faces in Tennessee.
They point to the fact that prosecutors have said they want to try this case in court, but the Trump administration appears willing to send Abrego Garcia to someplace where returning for trial would be nearly impossible.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys filed a motion last week to dismiss the charges they called "vindictive and selective prosecution." Prosecutors filed a motion requesting more time for an official response, saying they were blindsided by Abrego Garcia's motion.
According to court filings, prosecutors said they had been in discussions with Abrego Garcia's team since mid-July over a possible plea deal. Abrego Garcia's attorneys seemed poised to agree to a plea deal that would have meant pleading guilty, accepting some form of sentencing and then deportation to a Spanish-speaking country where Abrego Garcia would not be sent back to El Salvador.
Prosecutors said they had never arranged a criminal plea involving a third country like this before, which is why the process took so long and ultimately never materialized.
Holmes said she will rule on the motion to dismiss soon.
