KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA RELEASED FROM CRIMINAL CUSTODY AFTER WRONGFUL DEPORTATION

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father of three, was released from criminal custody in Tennessee on Friday, August 22, 2025, after being wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March. Garcia was brought back to the US in June to face human smuggling charges, which his lawyers claim is a politically motivated move.

Garcia’s release comes after two federal judges ordered his release while he awaits trial. However, his immediate fate in the US remains uncertain, with administration officials wavering on whether they would deport him before his trial begins in January.

“I am so grateful for everybody who has been supporting me since day one,” Garcia said in a video released by immigrant advocacy group CASA after reuniting with his family. “Because for the very first time today, I am seeing how so many people have been supporting my case, not just here, but internationally.”

His lawyer, Sean Hecker, said Garcia was grateful to be free “after being unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government’s vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the administration’s continuing assault on the rule of law.”

Despite his release, Garcia’s lawyers say he is “far from safe” due to the threat of ICE detention or deportation to an unknown third country. “ICE detention or deportation to an unknown third country still threaten to tear his family apart,” his lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a statement. “A measure of justice has been done, but the government must stop pursuing actions that would once again separate this family.”

Garcia’s trial is set to begin on January 27, 2027. US District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered the Trump administration to give Garcia’s lawyers 72 hours’ notice if they intend to deport him to a third country. In a surprising turn, ICE notified Abrego Garcia of their intention to deport him to Uganda, effective 72 hours from the notice, and ordered him to report to an ICE facility in Baltimore on Monday.