US seeks to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he refused plea
offer in his smuggling case
[August 25, 2025]
By TRAVIS LOLLER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Immigration officials said they intend to deport
Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he declined an offer to be sent to
Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail and pleading guilty to
human smuggling charges, his defense attorneys told a court Saturday.
The Costa Rica offer came late Thursday and included a requirement that
he remain in jail for the time being and then serve whatever sentence he
would receive for pleading guilty, according to a brief filed in
Tennessee, where the criminal case was brought. After Abrego Garcia left
jail on Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified his
attorneys that he would be deported to Uganda and should report to
immigration authorities on Monday.
Later on Friday, “the government informed Mr. Abrego that he has until
first thing Monday morning — precisely when he must report to ICE’s
Baltimore Field Office — to accept a plea in exchange for deportation to
Costa Rica, or else that offer will be off the table forever,” his
defense attorneys wrote.
They declined to say whether he is still considering the offer.
Filed along with the brief was a letter from the Costa Rican government
stating that Abrego Garcia would be welcomed to that country as a legal
immigrant and wouldn't face the possibility of detention.
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin responded to the brief
with a statement saying, “A federal grand jury has charged Abrego Garcia
with serious federal crimes ... underscoring the clear danger this
defendant presents to the community. This defendant can plead guilty and
accept responsibility or stand trial before a jury. Either way, we will
hold Abrego Garcia accountable and protect the American people.”
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. Facing a court order, the Trump
administration brought him back to the U.S. 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. The Saturday filing came as a supplement to that motion to
dismiss, stating that the threat to deport him to Uganda is more proof
that the prosecution is vindictive.
“Despite having requested and received assurances from the government of
Costa Rica that Mr. Abrego would be accepted there, within minutes of
his release from pretrial custody, an ICE representative informed Mr.
Abrego’s counsel that the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego to
Uganda,” his attorneys wrote in their filing.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, center, leaves the Putnam County Jail, Friday,
Aug. 22, 2025, in Cookeville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brett Carlsen)
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. However,
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.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s lead attorney in the
Maryland lawsuit against the Trump administration, said in a
statement Saturday that the government is trying to use the
immigration system to punish his client by “attempting to send him
halfway across the world, to a country with documented human rights
abuses and where he does not even speak the language.”
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