US Plans Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda After Plea Refusal

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran national wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, has been released from a Tennessee jail to await trial in Maryland on human smuggling charges. After rejecting a last-minute plea deal that involved pleading guilty and accepting deportation to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining detained, U.S. immigration authorities, under President Donald Trump's administration, signaled plans to deport him to Uganda. His attorneys argue this move is retaliatory and coercive, aimed at forcing a guilty plea, especially since a judge had ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador due to gang violence risks. Despite being eligible for pretrial release, Abrego Garcia's legal team initially kept him detained to avoid immediate deportation, fearing another wrongful removal. The Department of Homeland Security instructed him to report to immigration authorities for deportation to Uganda, a plan that has drawn criticism as vindictive prosecution tied to his challenge of previous deportation orders. The case highlights tensions in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement and raises questions about due process and the use of deportation threats in criminal proceedings.