Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrenders to ICE custody in Baltimore

BALTIMORE – Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrendered to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore on Monday, just days after his release from jail. ICE alerted his attorneys on Friday that he could be deported to Uganda and was ordered to report to authorities.

The father, who was deported to El Salvador in March despite a judge’s order protecting him from removal, reunited with his family over the weekend. 

Abrego Garcia surrendered Monday

READ MORE: Kilmar Abrego Garcia offered deportation to Costa Rica for guilty plea: court documents

Now, he faces the possibility of being sent to Uganda, a country where he has no known ties.

Supporters gathered outside the Baltimore ICE field office for a prayer vigil and rally early Monday morning. Abrego Garcia arrived around 6:45 a.m.

Abrego Garcia’s case became a flash point in Trump’s immigration crackdown, after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March despite a judge’s ruling that he faced a “well-founded fear” of violence there.

Under court pressure, the Trump administration returned him to the U.S. in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Police pulled him over for speeding and noted nine passengers in the vehicle. Though officers voiced suspicions of smuggling, Abrego Garcia was released with a warning. He has pleaded not guilty.

Faces deportation 

A longtime Maryland resident with an American wife and children, Abrego Garcia was granted pretrial release last month. But he remained in jail at his attorneys’ request, fearing he could be deported again if freed.

Federal officials argue he remains eligible for deportation because he entered the country illegally and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2019, though not to El Salvador.

READ MORE: Kilmar Abrego Garcia reunited with family following release Friday