Trump administration may attempt to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda: Sources
The Trump administration may attempt to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
“We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country,” Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement earlier Friday after Abrego Garcia was released from criminal custody on Friday in Tennessee, where he faces human smuggling charges.
In the release order, a magistrate judge said that should Abrego Garcia be taken into immigration custody following his return to Maryland, the U.S. government “shall ensure that, while Abrego remains in ICE custody, he has access to his attorneys, both physically and via telephone, to allow Abrego to prepare for trial in this case.”
One source told ABC News that Abrego Garcia received a notice to report to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Baltimore on Monday.
DHS declined to comment.
Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March, was brought back to the U.S. in June to face the human smuggling charges tied to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia is a member of the transnational Salvadoran MS-13 gang, which his lawyers deny.
Earlier Friday, ABC News obtained a letter from the government of Costa Rica indicating it is willing to accept Abrego Garcia "upon the conclusion of any criminal sentence he may serve in the U.S."
In the letter sent Thursday to the U.S. Embassy of Costa Rica, an official said the country "intends to provide refugee status or residency to Mr. Abrego Garcia upon his transfer to Costa Rica."
"The Government of Costa Rica presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States of American in San José, and wishes to express its willingness to accept the transfer from the United States to Costa Rica of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia upon the conclusion of any criminal sentence he may serve in the United States of America," said Mario Zamora Cordero, the minister of governance, police and public security for Costa Rica.
Zamora Cordero went on to say in the letter that the government of Costa Rica assured the U.S. government that it will not remove Abrego Garcia to a third country, including El Salvador.
"Consistent with this intention, the Government of Costa Rica assures the Government of the United States of America that it intends that Mr. Abrego Garcia will not be subjected to either torture or persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion," the letter states.
Abrego Garcia has not been convicted on any charges and trial in his human smuggling case is set to begin on Jan. 27, 2027.
Officials with the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
