Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife, Jennifer, speak to supporters outside an ICE Field Office in Baltimore, Maryland. (Fox News Digital/Breanne Deppisch)
It comes after his lawyers on Monday filed an emergency habeas request to keep Abrego Garcia in the U.S. for now until his immigration case can play out via the proper channels, ensuring due process protections — including the right to a reasonable fear interview — before being removed to a third country.
ICE officials notified Abrego Garcia's attorneys late last week that they planned to arrest him this week and deport him as early as Wednesday to Uganda. The East African nation reached an agreement with the U.S. earlier this month to accept certain deported migrants, though details of the arrangement were not immediately clear.
Protesters gather outside an ICE Field Office in Baltimore on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Breanne Deppisch/Fox News Digital)
Also on Wednesday, Abrego Garcia's lawyers told Xinis that they had filed an emergency motion to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum.
That request is outside Xinis' jurisdiction, and was filed Tuesday in an immigration court in Baltimore.
Xinis had previously cited concerns over the lack of a known proffer from Uganda detailing what protections or freedoms Abreo Garcia would have in Uganda, compared to information provided by Costa Rica's government, which had provided written assurances that Abrego Garcia would live freely in the country and not be refouled, or re-deported, to El Salvador.
Justice Department officials had offered Abrego Garcia the option of being removed to Costa Rica last week, as part of a plea deal in exchange for securing his guilty plea on criminal charges related to human smuggling in Tennessee. He declined.
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/federal-judge-blocks-abrego-garcia-deportation-extending-court-fight