{"id":2104271,"date":"2025-08-27T19:14:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T17:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pre.efe.com\/?p=2104271"},"modified":"2025-08-28T18:00:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T16:00:23","slug":"us-judge-deportation-kilmar-abrego-garcia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pre.efe.com\/en\/latest-news\/2025-08-27\/us-judge-deportation-kilmar-abrego-garcia\/","title":{"rendered":"US judge delays deportation of Kilmar \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda and orders Trump officials to testify"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
International Desk (EFE).- A United States federal judge has blocked on Wednesday the deportation of Kilmar \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda for several more weeks and scheduled an evidentiary hearing in early October, where United States President Donald Trump administration officials are expected to testify about the government\u2019s attempt to remove him from the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
District Judge Paula Xinis scheduled the hearing for Oct. 6, saying she would issue a ruling within 30 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until then, \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda must remain in the US, under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Court requires clarity on whether government officials followed their own procedures or acted lawfully,\u201d Xinis said, noting that testimony from Trump officials would be central to her decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda continues to fight his deportation on multiple fronts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is set to undergo a \u201ccredible fear\u201d interview with immigration officials, who will evaluate his claim of fearing persecution or torture if sent to Uganda, the country to which the Trump administration seeks to deport him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the claim is valid, officials must identify another country for possible removal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign told the court the process could take \u201cat least two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legal battles and past deportation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Separately, \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda is pursuing a renewed asylum application, which will be decided by an immigration judge within the Justice Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, the Trump administration illegally deported him to El Salvador in mid-March, where he was held for a period in the country\u2019s notorious \u201cmega-prison,\u201d CECOT. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was later returned to the United States to face federal charges of human trafficking. Despite those pending charges, the Trump administration has pushed to deport him swiftly, even before his trial concludes. <\/p>\n\n\n
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On Monday, ICE agents detained \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda at Baltimore\u2019s immigration court, just three days after his release in Tennessee, where a judge ruled he posed neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His defense team argues the government is using deportation threats as leverage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe US government is pressuring Mr. \u00c1brego with the prospect of removal to Uganda in order to force a plea deal that would allow deportation to Costa Rica instead,\u201d his lawyers said in a weekend statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deportation options<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
One day after his release, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offered him a plea bargain in the human trafficking case that would allow him to be deported to Costa Rica or sent to Uganda instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDeporting him to Costa Rica is not justice. It is an acceptably lesser evil. But insisting on deporting him to Uganda shows that the real motive in this case is not simply to remove him from the country, but to punish him and keep him detained,\u201d Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda\u2019s lawyers, said at a press conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c1brego has been assured that he will be a free citizen in Costa Rica and would have refugee protection from deportation to El Salvador.<\/p>\n\n\n
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According to his lawyers, he faces the risk of persecution and violence from the country’s gangs, which is why a judge prohibited his deportation in 2019, the defense attorney explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this regard, Xinis believes that there are \u201cseveral reasons\u201d why he could have jurisdiction to request exemption from deportation, including that Uganda has not agreed to offer \u00c1brego protections such as freedom of transit, refugee status, and a ban on being sent to El Salvador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the moment, President Trump has limited himself to stating that they have the situation \u201cunder control\u201d despite the fact that the migrant’s lawyers \u201care doing things through a liberal court system.\u201d EFE <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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