A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this morning in Baltimore during a required check-in appointment. He had enjoyed a brief reprieve, returning to his home in Maryland over the weekend. In March, the Trump administration sent him to an El Salvador prison, calling it an administrative error at the time, then resisted court orders to bring him back, calling him a gang member without showing evidence.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Now, once the government did bring him back, they charged him with human smuggling. He pleaded not guilty and was jailed in Tennessee until this past Friday. His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, was on All Things Considered.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
SIMON SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: He's got the right to seek protection from deportation to any country where he thinks his life or freedom is at risk. It's called withholding of removal.
MARTÍNEZ: He says the administration has threatened to deport Abrego Garcia, and the question is, where?
INSKEEP: Yeah. Abrego Garcia rejected a plea deal that would have included his deportation to Costa Rica. Now his lawyer says the government talks of sending him to the East African country of Uganda.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: I think Uganda is essentially being used as a means of punishment. If Uganda is going to deport him right back to El Salvador, whether the next day, the next month or even in a few months, that's just as illegal as it would be for them to send him straight to El Salvador for a second time.
MARTÍNEZ: So would he be deported this week? His lawyer isn't sure.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: We think it's very clear that they can't put him on a plane to any country unless and until that whole proceeding has played out and he loses his case. Unfortunately, I don't know that they agree with that.
INSKEEP: We have reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Haven't heard back, but we will let you know if we hear back as this case proceeds.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.