Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrenders to ICE, faces possible deportation to Uganda
The Trump administration is pushing for his removal from the US amid contested gang allegations and smuggling charges
Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrendered to US immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday and faces possible efforts by the Trump administration to deport him immediately.
The 30-year-old Maryland construction worker and Salvadorean national spoke at a rally before he turned himself in.
“This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us,” Abrego Garcia said, speaking through a translator. “God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”
Abrego Garcia entered the offices of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a downtown office building. His wife emerged without him a few minutes later, appearing to have tears in her eyes.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said in a tweet that Abrego Garcia was being processed for deportation. Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said a lawsuit had been filed in federal district court in Maryland shortly after his detention asking for an order that he not be deported.
“I expect there’s going to be a status conference very promptly, and we’re going to ask for an interim order that he not be deported, pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country,” he said.