Salvadoran man at center of Trump immigration row detained again, now faces deportation to Uganda

A Salvadoran man at the center of controversy surrounding President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown was arrested on Monday and now faces deportation.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and later returned to the US, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

ICE was “processing him for deportation,” Noem added in a post on X.

According to Garcia’s lawyers, the U.S. government now plans to deport him to the distant African nation of Uganda.

Garcia had been released last week from a Tennessee jail, where he faces human smuggling charges, and was allowed to return to his home in Maryland while awaiting trial.

As part of his release conditions, he was required to report to ICE in Baltimore on Monday.

However, when he arrived for the appointment, he was taken into custody by ICE, said one of his attorneys, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.

“The notice stated that the reason was an interview,” AFP quoted Sandoval-Moshenber as saying. “Clearly that was false. There was no need for them to take him into ICE detention.

“He was already on electronic monitoring from the US Marshal Service and basically on house arrest,” he said.

“The only reason that they’ve chosen to take him into detention is to punish him.”

The attempt to deport Garcia to Uganda in East Africa adds a dramatic new twist to a saga that became a test case for Trump’s harsh crackdown on illegal immigration – and, critics say, his trampling of the law.

‘Administrative error’

Garcia had been living in the U.S. under protected legal status since 2019, after a judge ruled that deporting him to El Salvador could put his life at risk.

Despite this, he was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison during former President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.

Justice Department lawyers later acknowledged that Garcia’s deportation was a result of an “administrative error.” He was brought back to the US, only to be arrested again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges.

Garcia denies the allegations, while the government claims he is a violent MS-13 gang member who helped smuggle other undocumented migrants into the country.

Just before his release last week, federal officials offered Garcia a deal: remain in custody, plead guilty to human smuggling, and accept deportation to Costa Rica. He refused.

His case has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over Trump’s hardline immigration policies. While supporters applaud the aggressive approach, legal experts and human rights advocates criticise what they describe as a chaotic and unlawful rush to deport individuals—often without due process.

With inputs from agencies