Kilmar Abrego Garcia set for Uganda deportation after ICE arrest alleged MS-13 member

Despite his discharge from custody, Mr Garcia's lawyers are expecting another detention following the Trump administration's announcement that it intends to deport him to Uganda.

**ARE YOU READING THIS ON OUR APP? DOWNLOAD NOW FOR THE BEST GB NEWS EXPERIENCE**

On Thursday, the Ugandan Government confirmed they had reached an agreement with the US to take in citizens from third countries who may not be granted asylum in America, but do not wish to return to their home countries.

The 30-year-old first made headlines earlier this year after being wrongfully deported to the infamous mega-prison in El Salvador after what US officials described as an "administrative error".

After being returned to US soil in June following a judge's order, he was indicted by a federal court in Nashville, Tennessee on human smuggling charges.

Mr Garcia's lawyers have launched legal action to block the El Salvadorian migrant's deportation to Uganda, citing that his "safety and liberty" would be in jeopardy if sent to the African nation.

His legal representatives also accused the Trump administration of attempting to pressure Mr Garcia into pleading guilty to the charges in exchange for deportation to Costa Rica, which is regarded as the safest country in Latin America.

One of Mr Garcia's lawyers, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said: “The fact that they’re holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick to try to coerce him to plead guilty to a crime is such clear evidence that they’re weaponising the immigration system in a matter that is completely unconstitutional, and specifically weaponising the decision of which country they send him to.

“It is preposterous that they would send him to Africa, to a country where he doesn’t even speak the language, a country with documented human rights violations, when there are so many other options."

His lawyers have denied accusations that the 30-year-old is a member of the violent MS-13 gang, maintaining that he legally came to the US when he was 16 years old to avoid gun violence in El Salvador.

US NEWS - READ MORE:

• US blocks Ukraine from firing long-range missiles at Moscow just days after Trump tells Zelensky to attack Russia
• Donald Trump to deploy thousands of National Guard troops to 'sort out' Chicago - 'They're screaming for us to come!'
• Joe Biden 'packed swing states with ONE MILLION illegal migrants in just two years'

On Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said: “Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation.

“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 terrorise American citizens any longer.”

Outside of an ICE facility in Baltimore, Maryland following his release from custody, Mr Garcia said in Spanish: “My name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I want you to remember this — remember that I am free and I was able to be reunited with my family.

“This was a miracle. Thank you to God and thank you to the community.

"I want to thank each and every one of you who marched, lift your voices, never stop praying and continue to fight in my name.”

Mr Garcia's initial allegations of smuggling came after a traffic stop in 2022, when he was pulled over on a Tennessee highway with eight passengers in the vehicle, with no luggage.

The officers who had pulled him over were suspicious that the 30-year-old was smuggling the passengers, but did not charge him.

He was seen in police body-cam footage speaking in broken English with the responding officer.