U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Monday at its Baltimore field office, beginning a new round of deportation proceedings against the illegal migrant whose earlier removal to El Salvador made him a symbol of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in an X post Monday. “President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer.”
Garcia, 30, was released from custody in Tennessee on Friday after more than five months of detention and returned to his family’s home in Maryland. He had been ordered to check in with ICE on Monday morning and arrived surrounded by supporters chanting “Sí se puede.”
Officials have offered to deport him to Costa Rica if he accepts a plea deal on charges of transporting migrants living illegally in the U.S. Without a plea, he could be removed to Uganda, which his lawyers say is far more dangerous. Abrego has pleaded not guilty and is seeking dismissal of the charges, claiming he was vindictively prosecuted for contesting his earlier deportation.
Noem has called Abrego a “monster” and blasted “activist liberal judges” for allowing his release, insisting the government still considers him a dangerous criminal and immigration violator.
Newsmax writer Eric Mack and information from Reuters were used to compile this report.
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