Immigration officials said Saturday they intend to deport MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, after he rejected an offer to instead be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.
According to a brief filed in Tennessee federal court, the Costa Rica deal was offered late Thursday and required Abrego Garcia to remain in jail while serving his sentence. After his release from jail Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) informed his attorneys that deportation to Uganda was now the plan.
“Despite having requested and received assurances from the government of Costa Rica that Mr. Abrego would be accepted there, within minutes of his release from pretrial custody, an ICE representative informed Mr. Abrego’s counsel that the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego to Uganda and ordered him to report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office Monday morning,” the brief said.
Costa Rica Option
Court documents included a letter from the Costa Rican government stating it would accept Abrego Garcia as a legal immigrant with no risk of detention. The benefit, his attorneys argued, is that Costa Rica is a Spanish-speaking country, unlike