A new filing from the attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garica in the federal human smuggling case against him out of Tennessee claims that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have presented an ultimatum for their client, allowing him to accept a guilty plea in exchange for deportation to Costa Rica at the end of his prison sentence, or else be deported to Uganda.
Claiming the alleged ultimatum is further proof of vindictive prosecution, the Saturday filing claimed that a flurry of communications occurred between prosecutors and Abrego Garcia amid his Friday release date from DOJ custody. Currently released, Abrego Garcia must also report to pretrial services in Maryland by no later than Monday, and is wearing a U.S. Marshals Service ankle monitor as part of his release conditions.
According to the filing, Abrego Garcia on Thursday was first offered a plea deal, which would have seen him agree to remain in DOJ custody until Monday, when the deal would have him change his plea from not guilty to guilty in exchange for an eventual deportation to Costa Rica following completion his sentence. The Trump administration said he would be given refugee status or residence by the Central American nation, and that Costa Rica also pledged not to deport Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador, according to the filing.
Abrego Garica’s attorneys informed the court that they declined the request for their client to remain incarcerated until Monday, but told the DOJ they would relay its plea deal to Abrego Garcia. They claim the DOJ demanded Abrego Garcia make his decision about the plea deal by no later than Monday morning, “or else that offer will be off the table forever.”
The release of Abrego Garcia notably came after U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, who oversees his civil lawsuit in Maryland, issued an order which prohibited ICE from arresting the alleged human smuggler immediately following his release from DOJ custody in Tennessee, and instead required immigration authorities to give Abrego Garcia and his attorneys advanced notice of any future immigration actions against him.
In apparent compliance with this order, the Saturday filing claims that ICE first raised Abrego Garcia’s impending deportation to Uganda in a Friday notice to his attorneys.
According to the filing, “within minutes of his release from pretrial custody,” in Tennessee, “an ICE representative informed Mr. Abrego’s counsel that the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego to Uganda and ordered him to report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office on Monday morning.”
Uganda’s government confirmed on Thursday that it reached an agreement with the Trump administration to accept illegal immigrants who the federal government cannot deport to their home country, with an official stating that illegal immigrants with criminal records and unaccompanied minors would not be sent to Uganda.
While Abrego Garcia was accused of membership in the Central American gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), he has denied this accusation. He is subject to a final deportation order from 2019, which notably states he is only prohibited from deportation to Guatemala, not El Salvador. He entered the United States illegally around 2012.
The agreement with Uganda follows the Trump administration’s deal with El Salvador, where Abrego Garcia was first deported in March.
After obtaining a U.S. Supreme Court order demanding the Trump administration facilitate his return to the United States, citing the withholding of removal provision in Abrego Garcia’s 2019 deportation order, he was ultimately returned to Tennessee after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment accusing him of spending nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling ring.
Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty, and his trial is currently scheduled for January 2026.
The allegations in the case stem from the November 2022 stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), which was first reported by The Tennessee Star earlier this year. A spokesman for THP later told The Star that Abrego Garcia was released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI,” and a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document revealed troopers suspected human trafficking.
– – –
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].Â
I don’t understand this. So we offer deals like, “You can go to Costa Rica and be free, or you can go to Uganda, you can choose, you can plead guilty or not guilty, you can go home and spend a free weekend with your ‘wife’, then report to ICE, … There is something very wrong with this picture. Prosecute him for human trafficking, being a gang member MS13, or just send him to Uganda. Since when did criminals have a buffet of choices like this guy has been given.