Although Kilmar Abrego Garcia declined a plea deal offered last week by the U.S. Department of Justice that would have required him to plead guilty to human smuggling charges in exchange for removal to Costa Rica, where he would receive refugee status or legal residence, a new civil lawsuit filed by Abrego Garcia on Monday revealed that he would still prefer deportation to Costa Rica if he faces removal proceedings.
Before leaving a Nashville jail last week, the lawsuit states that Abrego Garcia was served with notice that he was required to present himself at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Baltimore Field Office on Monday. It also claims that only his attorneys were informed that ICE intended to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda.
After learning his destination, Abrego Garcia, “expressed fear of persecution and torture in Uganda and requested a reasonable fear interview.”
The lawsuit additionally states that, despite declining the plea deal, Abrego Garcia “designated Costa Rica as his preferred country for removal.”
According to 8 U.S.C. 1231, an illegal alien should be removed to their country of origin; however, Abrego Garcia has successfully obtained a U.S. Supreme Court ruling deeming his March deportation wrongful and demanding the Trump administration facilitate his return to the United States for his immigration case to continue. Abrego Garcia notably obtained the order despite his 2019 final deportation order, which only blocked the government from deporting him to Guatemala.
If an illegal immigrant like Abrego Garcia is unable to return to his country, the law suggests he “may designate one country to which the alien wants to be removed,” while the government could deport him to any nation, “with a government that will accept the alien into the country’s territory.”
The new lawsuit by Abrego Garcia followed a legal filing last Saturday by his criminal defense attorneys for the federal human smuggling case out of Tennessee, which revealed that prosecutors first offered Abrego Garcia a plea deal that would have seen him enter a guilty plea in exchange for an agreement to be deported to Costa Rica.
A letter from the U.S. Embassy, submitted as evidence in the federal human smuggling case, showed that Abrego Garcia would receive legal status in that country, either as a refugee or resident, and that he would not be deported to his homeland.
According to the Saturday filing, Abrego Garcia was given until Monday morning to consider the offer, and after the deadline, “that offer will be off the table forever.”
Abrego Garcia did not accept the plea deal on Monday, when he instead reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Baltimore Field Office, where he was returned to federal custody as the Trump administration seeks to deport him to Uganda as early as Wednesday.
Shortly after Abrego Garcia reentered federal custody, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis forbade the Trump administration from deporting Abrego Garcia until at least Friday in an oral order.
Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States and charged with human smuggling in June, only weeks after The Tennessee Star first reported that he was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in November 2022. A THP spokesman later confirmed troopers released Abrego Garcia at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security later released a document confirming the troopers suspected human trafficking.
The human smuggling trial is scheduled for January 2026. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kilmar Abrego Garcia” by Murray Osorio PLLC.
