Legal Complexities and Next Steps
A Maryland court ruling now requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to give 72 hours’ notice before deportation. An ICE email sent Friday at 4:01 p.m. confirmed: “Please let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends).”
Federal officials maintain that Abrego Garcia can legally be deported because a U.S. immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, though not to El Salvador, where he faces threats of a rival gang’s violence.
For now, Abrego Garcia remains free in Maryland, but his future is uncertain as he faces both trial on smuggling charges and possible deportation to a country with which he has no ties.
