Man wrongfully deported from US now detained again by ICE
3 Min Read
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, wrongfully deported to El Salvador and tortured in prison, has been detained again by ICE as the Trump administration now seeks to deport him to Uganda.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia attends a protest rally held to support him at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Monday, August 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old Salvadoran national, has become the center of one of the most controversial immigration cases in recent years in the US. Fleeing threats from Barrio 18 in El Salvador as a teenager, he built a life in Maryland, marrying a US citizen and raising three children with special needs.
In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation after ruling he faced likely persecution if returned to El Salvador. Despite this order, the Trump administration deported him in March 2025, sending him to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Inside CECOT, Garcia endured physical and psychological torture, including beatings, prolonged forced kneeling, and food deprivation. His attorneys documented that he lost over 30 pounds in his first two weeks of confinement. Judge Paula Xinis later described his deportation as “wholly lawless” and “shocking to the conscience.”
Following a Supreme Court order, Garcia was returned to the US in June 2025. However, instead of being released, he was charged with human smuggling over a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where authorities alleged he transported undocumented immigrants. Federal Judge William Crenshaw later found the government’s evidence “simply insufficient” and granted him release on bail.
Latest ICE detention and deportation plans
On August 23, Garcia was reunited with his family in Maryland after months in federal custody. His freedom was short-lived. Days later, during a mandatory ICE check-in in Baltimore, he was detained again.
The Trump administration has since announced plans to deport Garcia to Uganda, a country he has never visited and with which he has no ties. Officials previously offered to send him to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea on smuggling charges, a deal he rejected.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Garcia of being an MS-13 member, human trafficker, and abuser, claims strongly denied by his attorneys and never substantiated in court.
Political and legal reactions
Judge Paula Xinis has temporarily blocked Garcia’s deportation to Uganda, ruling that ICE is “absolutely forbidden” from removing him while she reviews whether his rights have been violated. She expressed concerns that sending him to Uganda could serve as a backdoor to eventually deport him again to El Salvador, despite the existing protections.
Garcia himself, speaking through a translator outside ICE offices, declared, “This administration has hit us hard, but God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”
His lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, argued that ICE’s actions are retaliatory, saying, “The only reason they took him into detention was to punish him.”
At the same time, the White House has continued to publicly mock Garcia on social media, posting memes labeling him an MS-13 gang member and deriding his legal team’s defense.
Still NOT a Maryland Dad... pic.twitter.com/JhniYkBqrB
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2025
Human rights advocates have condemned the administration’s push to deport Garcia to Uganda, highlighting that he has no language, family, or support system there. They argue the move amounts to political retaliation for his legal challenges against the government.
Garcia’s case has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over US immigration policy, due process, and executive power. With his criminal trial on smuggling charges set for January 2026 and multiple lawsuits pending, his fate remains uncertain.
