Judge Denies Asylum for Returned Salvadoran MS-13 Suspect

A Baltimore immigration judge denied Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s bid to reopen his 2019 asylum case, leaving the earlier final order of removal in place and giving him 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and held in the Terrorism Confinement Center before being returned to the U.S. after legal challenges and a Supreme Court order. A 2019 ruling had barred his removal to El Salvador because of gang threats, but federal prosecutors have since charged him with human smuggling and the Department of Homeland Security has publicly accused him of MS-13 and other violent offenses, which his attorneys contest. The immigration judge said there was insufficient evidence that DHS had decided to remove him to third countries such as Uganda or Eswatini, even as DHS asserted the final removal order still stands. A separate federal court case in Maryland could prevent an immediate deportation.