Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed "activist" judges for the release of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia on Friday, August 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
His attorneys used the spurned offer to bolster their motion to dismiss the criminal case against him on the grounds of "vindictive" and selective prosecution by the Trump administration.
They said the plea deal offer shows that the Trump administration had embarked on a pressure campaign against their client, and one in which several government agencies— the Justice Department, ICE, and DHS— were "using their collective powers to force" their client to choose between the plea and Costa Rica, or not accepting the offer, and what they termed the "rendition to Uganda."
"In conjunction with that proposal, the government produced a letter to Mr. Abrego’s counsel confirming that he could live freely in that country, which would accept him as a refugee or grant him residency status, and promise not to refoul him to El Salvador," his attorneys said in a court filing on Saturday.
It was not until after he rejected that offer, they said, that the government "informed Mr. Abrego that he has until first thing Monday morning — precisely when he must report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office — to accept a plea in exchange for deportation to Costa Rica, or else that offer will be off the table forever."
JUDGE PRESSES TRUMP DOJ ON ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION; ANSWERS LEAVE COURTROOM IN STUNNED SILENCE
Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks, after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. (Reuters)
Should ICE immediately arrest Abrego Garcia, their actions would likely defy a court order handed down by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, which sought to preclude ICE from immediately arresting Abrego Garcia upon return.
Fox News reported Friday that DHS and ICE officials, frustrated with Abrego Grcia's release, had been consulting with the Justice Department and ICE's lawyers about how to go about removing him from the U.S.
Lawyers for the Justice Department vehemently opposed Abrego Garcia's release from custody, arguing at an evidentiary hearing earlier this year that he was a danger to the community and describing him as a member of MS-13 — a claim that was rejected by a judge in a ruling earlier this year.
Even so, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Abrego Garcia's release from criminal custody on Friday, saying in a statement that the Trump administration "will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country."
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Prior to Abrego Garcia's arrival at the ICE facility in Baltimore Monday, CASA, an immigrant advocacy group, is holding an early-morning candlelight vigil outside the detention center in Baltimore to show their support for Abrego Garcia and his family.
"Kilmar is being made an example of, a martyr for having the courage to stand up to this administration’s illegal deportation practices," Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, CASA’s Chief of Organizing and Leadership, said in a statement.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abergo-garcia-appear-ice-office-baltimore-amid-fears-uganda-deportation