A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s effort to deport alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda.
US District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, paused the deportation plan until the Trump administration allows Abrego Garcia the opportunity to contest his removal,
At the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore, Jennifer Vasquez Sura held her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, tightly after he was taken into custody by ICE.
Abrego Garcia – a citizen of El Salvador – had just been released from a Tennessee jail last week after facing human smuggling charges, but ICE arrested him again only hours before a federal court ruling in Maryland.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed:
“Today, ICE officers arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation. President Trump will not allow an illegal immigrant, an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to continue threatening American citizens.”
According to attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Judge Xinis’ decision came after Abrego Garcia filed a lawsuit requesting a halt to his deportation order until he has the opportunity to appeal.
An undated photo shows Abrego Garcia inside a prison in El Salvador.
Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said:
“I expect there will be a status hearing very soon, and we’ll be asking the court for an interim order preventing his deportation until he has the chance to exercise his due process rights and contest removal to any particular country.”
The Trump administration had previously deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in June, along with 260 other alleged gang members, after President Trump invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, which allowed federal authorities to carry out rapid deportations without hearings. However, officials later acknowledged that his deportation was carried out due to an “administrative error.”
Abrego Garcia — who illegally crossed into the United States in 2011 — was also offered deportation to Costa Rica if he admitted to transporting undocumented migrants. The case stems from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, when he was pulled over with eight passengers in a car that contained no luggage, according to his attorneys.
Outside ICE’s Baltimore field office, Sandoval-Moshenberg remarked:
“They’re holding Costa Rica as the carrot and using Uganda as the stick. They are weaponizing the immigration system in a way that is completely unconstitutional.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.