Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Abrego Garcia will be deported, but a standing federal order blocks his immediate removal.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national facing federal human smuggling charges, was arrested by federal immigration authorities on Aug. 25 and is being processed for removal from the United States.
“Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement on X.
“President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer.”
Abrego Garcia, 30, surrendered on Monday morning to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore, and now faces possible deportation to Uganda. His attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition in a Maryland court immediately after his surrender, triggering a federal court order that temporarily shields him from removal. The standing order bars Abrego Garcia’s deportation until 4 p.m. on the second business day after filing, unless a judge extends the terms.
His lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said they will seek an additional court ruling barring Abrego Garcia’s deportation “pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country.” The standing order offers only a short-term pause, and Abrego Garcia’s attorneys want a broader injunction that would prevent ICE from transferring him abroad until the court fully considers the legality of his removal.
Abrego Garcia had already been deported in March to a prison in El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered his return in June, but he was indicted weeks later in Tennessee on smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. Prosecutors allege he conspired to transport nine illegal immigrant passengers, while defense lawyers say he was merely pulled over for speeding and released with a warning.
The Justice Department has pressed those charges forward even as ICE moved to arrange his deportation. On Aug. 22, federal Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes signed an order granting his pretrial release, requiring electronic monitoring, third-party custody, and compliance with any conditions imposed by ICE. The order also directed federal agencies to ensure that, if Abrego Garcia were detained by ICE, he would still have access to his defense counsel to prepare for trial.
By Tom Ozimek
