Abrego Garcia removal to Uganda temporarily blocked by judge

Erik Larson, Bloomberg News on Aug 25, 2025

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A judge in Maryland temporarily blocked the U.S. from deporting Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, hours after President Donald Trump hailed the man’s latest arrest by federal agents.

U.S. Judge Paula Xinis ruled Monday that Abrego Garcia must remain in his current detention facility at least until further proceedings are scheduled. He was arrested earlier in the day during a mandatory check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s field office in Baltimore.

Abrego Garcia became a key figure in the U.S. crackdown on immigration after he filed a high-profile lawsuit in March challenging his accidental deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador, part of a broader program of controversial mass deportations.

After being returned to the U.S., Abrego Garcia was hit with human-smuggling charges that he says are retaliation for filing that suit. He now argues that U.S. officials are threatening to deport him to Uganda as payback for refusing to quickly plead guilty.

Xinis elaborated during a phone hearing on Monday that Abrego Garcia must remain in the U.S. until he’s had a chance to present arguments that he’ll face persecution or torture in Uganda, his lawyer Sean Hecker said.

The arrest came less than 72 hours after the judge who is overseeing his criminal case in Tennessee released him from jail so he could return to Maryland to be with his family until the trial.

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