In a highly unusual twist in an already controversial immigration case, federal officials are now seeking to deport Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, after he declined a plea deal that would have required him to stay in jail and admit guilt to human smuggling charges.
The proposed plea agreement, floated late Thursday, reportedly offered resettlement in Costa Rica in exchange for Abrego Garcia’s guilty plea and continued detention. When he refused the jail condition, he was released from a Tennessee detention facility on Friday — and within hours, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed his attorneys of a new plan: deportation to Uganda.
According to a court filing submitted Saturday by Abrego Garcia’s legal team, the federal government is pursuing a “vindictive” prosecution after it was forced by court order to return him to the United States earlier this year.
“The government immediately responded to Mr. Abrego’s release with outrage,” the filing states.
“Within minutes… an ICE representative informed Mr. Abrego’s counsel that the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego to Uganda and ordered him to report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office Monday morning.”
Background: A Legal and Political Firestorm
Abrego Garcia’s case has become a lightning rod in debates over immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump.
He was deported to El Salvador in March. After a federal court ordered his return, the Trump administration brought him back to the U.S. in June. Upon arrival, he was immediately re-detained, this time on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
Body camera footage from that stop shows an exchange between Abrego Garcia and state troopers, who suspected potential smuggling due to the presence of nine passengers in the modified vehicle. He was let go with only a warning. Federal investigators did not revisit the incident until April 2025.
Defense: ‘Retaliation for Challenging Deportation’
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to dismiss the smuggling charges, arguing the case is a pretextual punishment for challenging his original deportation. His attorneys say the government is “forum shopping” for a country that will accept him — not necessarily one where he has ties or legal status.
Court records show that Abrego Garcia was previously deemed eligible for deportation by a U.S. immigration judge in 2019, but not to El Salvador due to the “well-founded fear” of violence there. Despite that, DHS is now attempting to remove him to Uganda, a country where he has no known citizenship, residency, or family connections.
A Shifting Legal Landscape
A recent Maryland court ruling — unrelated to his specific case — requires immigration authorities to provide 72 hours’ notice before deporting individuals with active legal claims. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys say they are relying on that precedent to prevent any sudden removal.
It’s not clear whether Costa Rica will remain on the table. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia declined to say whether it had been formally rescinded, only noting in court filings that he had refused the jail-time component of the deal.
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Seijah Drake was born in Boston, MA, where she developed a penchant for writing early on and a passion for politics in college. After college she worked briefly for a conservative media in New York before relocating to the Greater D.C. Area to pursue a career in political marketing. She now resides in the free state of Florida.
Why would this guy be getting a plea deal anyway? Is it really up to anyone but the executive branch to say where the illegal alien will be deported if in fact the procedures for filing for admittance were not followed because no application made at the first US embassy or consulate after leaving his own country? So I guess it is OK just to walk into our Country and do whatever they want to do? Is it possible that those that are giving all of the interference in enforcement of immigration law might be enabling illegals to saty in this Country which is also illegal?