Additional Coverage:
- Judge denies Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s asylum request as he faces deportation to Africa (themirror.com)
Immigration Judge Denies Asylum Request for Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Appeal Expected
A U.S. immigration judge in Baltimore has denied an asylum request from Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran migrant whose complex case has drawn national and international attention. While the judge rejected the application to reopen Abrego Garcia’s 2019 asylum case, the ruling is not final, allowing him 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
The recent decision marks another turn in a protracted legal battle for Abrego Garcia, who has resided in Maryland for years with his American wife and children. He initially immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager and was arrested by immigration agents in 2019.
His initial asylum request in 2019 was deemed ineligible because he had been in the U.S. for over a year. However, in a significant caveat, the judge at the time ruled that Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador due to credible threats he faced from a gang targeting his family.
The case gained significant notoriety when Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March by the Trump administration, landing him in the country’s notorious CECOT maximum-security prison. The facility is known for its strict conditions, prohibiting visitors, recreation, and education. This incident transformed his situation into a symbol for advocacy groups and citizens critical of the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies.
Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. in June.
However, upon his return, he was immediately charged with human smuggling. He now faces criminal charges in Tennessee stemming from a 2022 traffic stop.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is also actively seeking to deport him to a “third country,” having proposed Uganda and then Eswatini, a small southern African nation where the king retains absolute power. His legal team has vehemently denounced both the criminal charges and the efforts to deport him, asserting they are retaliatory measures for his challenge to the Trump administration.
The practice of sending immigrants to “third countries” with which the U.S. has agreements has been criticized by advocacy groups, who argue it violates immigrants’ rights to due process and often sends individuals to countries with documented human rights violations. Adding to the controversy, Trump administration officials have repeatedly, and publicly, referred to Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang, despite him having no convictions.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) even issued a press release on April 16 titled, “THE REAL STORY: Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 Gang member with a History of Violence,” stating he “is a violent criminal illegal alien and MS-13 gang member” and “belongs behind bars and off American soil.”
In response to what they describe as “highly prejudicial, inflammatory, and false statements,” Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have filed motions requesting a gag order. They argue that the ongoing public commentary makes it impossible for him to receive a fair trial. While a federal judge in Tennessee could potentially order prosecutors to refrain from prejudicial statements, it remains uncertain whether such authority extends to the DHS.
The DHS continued its public commentary even after the recent ruling, posting on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, stating, “His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain, this Salvadoran man is not going to be able to remain in our country.” The post further criticized Democrats for “break[ing] bread with this terrorist gang member” and reaffirmed a commitment to “put the safety of the American people FIRST.”