By BRIAN WITTE and BEN FINLEY Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained by U.S. immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday and faces possible efforts by the Trump administration to deport him immediately.
But a blanket court order automatically pauses any effort by the Trump administration to immediately deport Abrego Garcia and other immigrants who are challenging their detention.
Any immigrant seeking review of their detention in a Maryland federal court is covered by the order, which blocks their removal from the U.S. until 4 p.m. on the second business day after their habeas corpus petition is filed. In June, the administration sued all of Maryland’s 15 federal judges to challenge the standard order.
Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old Maryland construction worker and Salvadoran national, spoke at a rally before he turned himself in.
“This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us,” Abrego Garcia said, speaking through a translator. “God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”
Abrego Garcia entered the offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a downtown office building. His wife emerged without him a few minutes later, appearing to have tears in her eyes.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X that Abrego Garcia was being processed for deportation. Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said a lawsuit had been filed in federal district court in Maryland shortly after his detention asking for an order that he not be deported.
“I expect there’s going to be a status conference very promptly, and we’re going to ask for an interim order that he not be deported, pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country,” he said.
Abrego Garcia became the face of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies when he was wrongfully deported in March to a notorious prison in his native El Salvador. He was returned to the U.S. in June, but only to face human smuggling charges that his lawyers call preposterous and vindictive.
The Trump administration has said it is trying to deport Abrego Garcia months before his trial is scheduled in Tennessee, alleging that the married father is a danger to the community and an MS-13 gang member. He has denied the gang allegation, pleaded not guilty to smuggling charges and has asked a judge to dismiss the case on ground of vindictive prosecution.
Abrego Garcia was released Friday afternoon from a jail in Tennessee. He returned to his family in Maryland. Video released by advocates of the reunion showed a room decorated with streamers, flowers and signs. He embraced loved ones and thanked them “for everything.”
Immigration officials have said they plan to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda, which recently agreed to a deal to accept certain deportees from the U.S. He declined an offer to be removed to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.
Filings in federal court show the Costa Rican government saying Abrego Garcia would be welcomed as a legal immigrant and wouldn’t face detention.
In a statement, Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said the criminal charges underscore how Abrego Garcia presents a “clear danger” and that he can either plead guilty or stand trial.
“Either way, we will hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people,” Gilmartin said.
The U.S. mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in March, despite a judge’s earlier determination that he faced a “well-founded fear” of violence there. Facing a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the United States in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges.
He pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to dismiss the case, claiming that it is an attempt to punish him for challenging his deportation to El Salvador. His lawyers have argued that the threat to deport him to Uganda is more proof that the prosecution is vindictive.
The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. There were nine passengers in the car, and officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. Abrego Garcia was allowed to continue driving with only a warning.
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years. Although he was deemed eligible for pretrial release last month, he remained in jail at the request of his attorneys, who feared the Republican administration could try to immediately deport him again if he were freed.
A recent ruling in a separate case in Maryland required ICE to provide 72 hours’ notice before initiating deportation proceedings — time to allow a prospective deportee to mount a defense. An email from ICE sent to attorneys at 4:01 p.m. on Friday refers to that decision.
“Please let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends),” it states. Uganda recently agreed to take deportees from the U.S., provided they do not have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors.
Federal officials have argued that Abrego Garcia can be deported because he came to the U.S. illegally and because a U.S. immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, just not to his native El Salvador.
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A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Abrego Garcia is being sent to Uganda, a country with a language he doesn’t speak. Uganda’s official language is English.