(Baltimore) The Salvadorian Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has become a symbol of Donald Trump’s repressive migration policy, will be expelled to Uganda. He was placed in detention on Monday by the American authorities.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, wrongly expelled in March to the Salvador and then brought back to the United States, was arrested by immigration police (ICE) on Monday, said internal security secretary Kristi Noem.
The department said on the same platform that it would be sent to Uganda, a country in Eastern Africa which announced last week that it has entered into an agreement with Washington to accommodate expressed migrants from the United States.
Mr. Abrego Garcia, 30, had been released last week from a Tennessee prison, where he was prosecuted for aid to the illegal stay of migrants, and had been authorized to join his family in Maryland, awaiting his trial.
The Department of Internal Security had, however, enjoined him to appear on Monday morning before the Baltimore immigration services, informing his lawyers of his possible transfer to Uganda.
Photo Elizabeth Frantz, Reuters
Kilmar Abrego Garcia holds the hand of his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura before entering the Office of the Immigration Police (ICE)
Mr. Abrego Garcia had previously rejected an agreement to plead guilty, providing for his continued detention and an expulsion to Costa Rica.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, said in front of a crowd of support gathered in front of the ICE offices that his client had been placed in detention after going to this meeting.
“Shame, shame”, chant the demonstrators, some of whom held signs with the inscription “Libertez Kilmar”.
“There was no reason to place him in detention,” said his lawyer, adding that his client had already been submitted to electronic surveillance measures and under house arrest.
“The only reason they chose to put it into detention is to punish it,” he said.
Photo Stephanie Scarbrough, Associated Press
A gathering of support for Kilmar Abrego Garcia (in the center) took place in front of the Office of the Immigration Police (ICE).
Emblematic affair
The government’s desire to expel Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda marks a new turning point in a case that has become emblematic of Donald Trump’s repressive policy in matters of immigration.
The American president erected the fight against illegal immigration in absolute priority, evoking an “invasion” of the United States by “criminals from abroad” and communicating abundantly on the expulsions of immigrants.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been expelled to Salvador without any other form of trial in March with more than 250 men, most of belonging to a Venezuelan gang.
The Trump administration then recognized an “administrative error” concerning this resident of Maryland married to an American.
Mr. Abrego Garcia does not have a legal immigration status on American soil, but an expulsion decree against him to Salvador had been definitively canceled in 2019.
He was finally brought back to the United States in June, but the Trump administration had immediately launched prosecution against him in Tennessee for aid to the illegal stay of migrants.
She also accuses him of being a member of the Salvadoral gang MS-13, classified “terrorist organization” by the American government, which the interested party defends himself.
Before entering the offices of the Ice of Baltimore, Kilmar Abrego Garcia briefly addressed to the crowd of his supports gathered in front of the building.
“Whatever happens today (…) Promise me to continue to pray, to fight, to resist and to love, not only for me but for everyone. Continue to demand freedom, ”he said.
