The Trump administration may attempt to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda in the coming days, according to a notice sent by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS notice surfaced in a court filing shortly after Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national facing human smuggling charges in Tennessee, was released from criminal custody pending trial. His attorneys accused the government of using the threat of deportation to pressure him into accepting a plea deal. “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),” the message stated. Abrego Garcia, who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador earlier this year and later returned to the US in June to face charges, had previously been warned that deportation to a third country was possible. But until Friday, it remained unclear whether the administration would proceed before his trial concluded. Calling the move “retaliation,” attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told CNN, “The government’s decision to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes it painfully clear that they are using the immigration system to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights. Costa Rica is a viable option where his family can visit him, but instead they want to send him halfway across the world to a country with documented human rights abuses and where he does not even speak the language.” Last month, US District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered officials to provide at least 72 business hours’ notice before any removal, giving Abrego Garcia time to claim possible risk of torture or persecution in the designated country. Court filings also revealed that the government had recently offered him a deal: plead guilty to the charges and, after serving his sentence, be deported to Costa Rica, which has agreed to accept him as a refugee or grant legal status. That offer, his lawyers said, was renewed Friday with a Monday deadline. His attorneys argued that the shifting deportation plans underscore their claim of “vindictive and selective prosecution,” urging US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw to dismiss the case.
