ICE detains Abrego Garcia and is processing him for deportation

After his release from a mega-prison in El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s next destination could be as far as Africa. His legal team announced Monday that they had filed a lawsuit to block his deportation to Uganda.

Surrounded by demonstrators, with protest signs and chants filling the air, attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg reported that in a new legal filing to a federal court in Maryland, the Salvadoran immigrant is challenging his potential deportation to Uganda—or "to any other county unless and until he’s had a fair trial."

The lawsuit also challenges his ongoing detention. According to the attorney, Abrego Garcia was detained by ICE during a scheduled interview Monday morning. He stated that agents took him into custody as soon as he reached the sixth floor and did not provide an explanation for his detention. "The only reason they’ve chosen to take him into custody is to punish him."

Specifically, Sandoval-Moshenberg is demanding that Abrego Garcia be granted a trial before an immigration judge prior to any potential deportation.

The Salvadoran immigrant, whom the government alleges is a member of Mara Salvatrucha (or MS-13), had been released from federal custody just days before. After his return from the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, he was held in a detention facility near Nashville, Tennessee.

Along with Uganda, his lawyers have also listed South Sudan and Costa Rica as possible destinations in the past few hours.

According to Fox News, the Justice Department offered to send Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea to charges of human trafficking. The defendant, who had previously pleaded not guilty, rejected the offer. Abrego Garcia’s legal team argues that the conditions of the plea deal—either accept guilt and be deported to Costa Rica or face deportation to Uganda—reflect a vindictive and personal campaign by the administration.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed the detention, stating that the Salvadoran immigrant was being processed for deportation.

"President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer," she added.