Kilmar Ábrego García, who previously became a symbol of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies after being wrongly deported to El Salvador, has again been threatened with removal from the United States—this time to Uganda.
Less than a day after his release from a Tennessee jail on Friday, immigration officials informed Ábrego García that they intend to deport him, according to a court filing.
The development comes after he rejected an offer to plead guilty to human smuggling charges and accept deportation to Costa Rica in exchange for avoiding detention.
Instead, the 2011 migrant from El Salvador, now living in Maryland with his American wife and children, chose to await trial.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where he was found driving with nine passengers.
Although police did not file charges at the time, prosecutors later pursued a human smuggling case—an accusation his lawyers call “preposterous.”
Ábrego García, who entered the U.S. as a teenager fleeing gang violence, was granted protection against deportation in 2019.
But he was wrongly expelled to El Salvador in March, before being returned to the U.S. under a Supreme Court order in June.
Since then, he has remained in custody while the government presses its case.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has vowed that the administration “will not stop fighting until he’s out of the country.”
Officials have also accused him of links to the MS-13 gang, allegations he and his family deny.
Ábrego García is expected to report to an immigration facility in Baltimore on Monday as his legal battle continues.
