Kilmar Abrego Garcia detained at Baltimore ICE office as supporters rally for his freedom

Chevall Pryce, Kate Cimini| and Natalie Jones, The Baltimore Sun on Aug 25, 2025

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BALTIMORE -- Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained Monday morning at Baltimore’s U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Office after speaking at a protest outside the office.

Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old El Salvador native and father of three from Prince George’s County, had been detained for five months following a mistaken deportation. On Friday, he was told to report to the Baltimore ICE office for possible deportation to Uganda after being released from a jail in in Tennessee and returning to Maryland.

Chants of “Sí, se puede” — “Yes, you can” — filled the air as Abrego Garcia on Monday morning outside the building where the ICE office is located, his wife and others by his side, their hands on his shoulders.

On the steps of the facility Monday, Abrego Garcia spoke through a translator to a crowd gathered in support, urging them not to lose hope.

“No matter what happens today at my ICE check-in, promise me this,” he said. “You’ll continue praying, resisting, fighting for me and for all.”

Abrego Garcia was first detained in a Salvadoran mega-prison and later in other jails following a mistaken deportation. In June, he was held on human smuggling charges in Tennessee.

The U.S. government gave Abrego Garcia the option to plead guilty to the smuggling charges and be deported to Costa Rica or face deportation to Uganda. He maintains his innocence against the charges.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Sean Hecker, filed a motion to dismiss the smuggling charges as “vindictive and selective prosecution.” The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia is a member of the international gang MS-13.

Abrego Garcia was originally granted a withholding of removal by an immigration judge in 2019, which protected him from deportation because he would face gang violence if he returned to El Salvador.

However, Abrego Garcia now faces possible deportation again if he does not accept a plea deal.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, whose district includes Hyattsville, where Abrego Garcia has lived with his family for years, called the charges unjust. Ivey said when he worked for the Justice Department, they admitted when they were wrong and owned it — unlike the current administration.

Ellyn Loy, a Baltimore resident, came to support Abrego Garcia and said: “Seeing what’s happening in this country, it is becoming a fascist culture. … People need to be a part of [resistance] in whatever way they can.”

Loy stood with longtime friend and now-Hyattsville resident Rob Duncan, a retired Local 5 iron worker out of Washington.

Abrego Garcia is his neighbor, Duncan said, and although he did not know him personally before the arrest, he said he knew many in the community who did.

Duncan has attended every news conference or courthouse appearance by Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Sura. This was his first time seeing Abrego Garcia in person, he said.

“If they can come for my neighbor, I’m going to be next,” Duncan said.

Sura and Abrego García entered together Monday morning, but she emerged from the building without her husband.

Abrego García was detained by ICE — an outcome his immigration attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, expected.

“As soon as he hit the sixth floor, they detained him and would not say why or where they would take him,” he said in Spanish.

“Jennifer firmly looked at the officers in the face and said, ‘Remember this moment when you go home and look at your kids. You have once again kidnapped my husband,’” a CASA representative told the crowd after Sura left in a black SUV.

It was unclear Monday morning if the plea deal is off the table, but Sandoval-Moshenberg said Abrego García may be allowed to leave for Costa Rica if he pleads guilty and to Uganda if the does not.

“They don’t have present legal authority to deport him to Uganda,” he said. “He has legal rights to due process and is on ankle monitoring. There was no reason for [this].”

Sandoval-Moshenberg said he filed a suit this morning asking that Abrego García not be removed until he has gone through the full due process he is entitled to.

“Our contention is they can’t send them to any one of the other 200 countries on earth unless he will have a legal status as Costa Rica has offered (as a refugee),” he said. “The Baltimore ICE is notorious, it has been one of the worst in the nation since February of people coming in the front door and being taken out the back door.”

They are weaponizing the immigration system, Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

“It is clear the government is far more interested in throwing its weight around and doing whatever they want to whoever they want,” the lawyer said.

Area elected officials in Baltimore voiced their upset with the situation.

“This is a horrible day,” said Baltimore city councilwoman Odette Ramos, tearing up. “This is one of the most emotional days I’ve had in my time as a councilwoman …They’re playing with his life — and not just him, there was a whole line of people. They were all scared.”