Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation to Uganda temporarily stopped pending further hearings

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has lived under protected status in the US since 2019, is facing renewed efforts despite previous legal protection. A federal judge stopped his removal to Uganda while the hearings continued. Kilmar Abrego Garcia attends a protest march on Monday 25 August 2025 at the Office and Customs Enforcement Field Office in Baltimore to support Abrego Garcia. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) (AP) A federal judge on Monday (August 25) temporarily blocked the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man in the middle of a high -profile dispute over US immigration policy. Abrego Garcia was arrested by immigration and customs handling (ICE) in Baltimore after being released from a Tennessee prison, where he faces the charges of smuggling people. District judge Paula Xinis stopped his removal while further hearings on his case were scheduled. The background of the Abrego Garcia (30) case has lived under protected legal status in the United States since 2019. A judge previously ruled that he should not be deported to El Salvador due to a ‘grounded fear’ of damage to gang activity. Nevertheless, he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and later returned to the US to a Supreme Court order. He then faced criminal charges in Tennessee. Legal challenge lawyers for Abrego Garcia immediately filed a lawsuit after his arrest and disputed the deportation to Uganda. Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of his attorneys, described the government’s actions as “the weapons of the immigration system in a way that is completely unconstitutional.” Deportation -controversy The Department of Home Security indicated that Abrego Garcia will “be processed for the removal to Uganda.” His attorneys expressed concern about possible abuse of human rights in Uganda and his limited English skill there. Abrego Garcia also requested that Costa Rica be considered for deportation, pointing out that the country has assured him the refugee status and protection that he is returned to El Salvador. Trump administration. The Trump administration maintains that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member involved in smuggling undocumented migrants and argues that he is eligible for deportation because he has illegally entered the US. Federal officials proposed Uganda as the removal destination because the 2019 ruling only banned the deportation to El Salvador, not third countries. Human and legal interests Abrego Garcia denies any offense. He lived with his American wife and children in Maryland and worked in construction. His attorneys argue that the use of deportation as leverage to force a guilty plea is illegal. Abrego Garcia lives in a Virginia detention facility. His attorneys are awaiting a ‘reasonable fear of fear’ to contest the proposed removal to Uganda. They indicated that if US immigration officials continue, he can investigate a revision of an immigration law and possibly call on the US Court of Appeal. This case has become a prominent example of the broader debate over the Trump administration’s immigration oppression, which raised questions about the right process, human rights and the boundaries of the presidential authority during deportation proceedings.