Kilmar Abrego Garcia Taken Into ICE Custody at Appointment

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who reunited with his family last week after 160 days apart following his mistaken deportation to El Salvador, was taken into ICE custody on Monday after an immigration check-in, his attorney said.

The check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore was part of the conditions of his release from federal custody on parole on Friday.

While such meetings are usually routine and are meant for case updates, Abrego’s attorneys said they expected he would be taken into ICE custody during the check-in after the Trump administration announced over the weekend its intention to deport him to Uganda.

“There was no need to take him into ICE detention. … The only reason they took him into detention was to punish him,” for using his constitutional right to speak up and fight proceedings, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego’s attorneys, said Monday morning.

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Sandoval-Moshenberg said Monday that Abgrego has filed a new lawsuit in federal district court for the district of Maryland “seeking to ensure that he is not removed from the United States pending his immigration proceedings.”

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The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Abrego of being a gang member part of the notorious MS-13, which his attorneys have denied. {snip}

The Trump administration offered Abrego a plea deal last week, his lawyers said in a Saturday court filing that was part of their efforts to get the charges in Tennessee dropped over what they consider to be “vindictive” and “selective” prosecution.

If he pleads guilty to the federal charges out of Tennessee and serves time, he can be deported to Costa Rica. The Costa Rican government said he’d live as a free man there, according to the filing.

Before Monday morning’s appointment, Sandoval-Moshenberg said his client would not be taking the plea deal as Abrego “will not accept charges of which he’s not guilty.” This means the agreement to be deported to Costa Rica could be off the table.

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