Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old Salvadoran national and construction worker from Maryland, has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities and is facing imminent deportation. His detention occurred on Monday when he reported for a scheduled interview with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to his lawyer.

Before his detention, Abrego Garcia spoke at a rally, expressing resilience against the Trump administration's immigration policies. "This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us," he said through a translator. "God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering."

After entering the ICE office in Baltimore, his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, emerged visibly upset. Shortly after his surrender, a judge issued a blanket court order that paused any immediate deportation efforts against Abrego Garcia and other immigrants contesting their detention.

Abrego Garcia's situation has been complicated by a history of wrongful deportation. In March, he was sent back to El Salvador, where he was placed in a notorious prison known as CECOT. A judge had previously determined that he faced a "well-founded fear" of violence in his home country. He was returned to the U.S. in June after a court order, only to be detained again on human smuggling charges, which his lawyers have called "preposterous and vindictive."

Following his detention, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on social media that ICE had arrested Abrego Garcia and was processing him for deportation. His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, stated that a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maryland to prevent his deportation. "I expect there's going to be a status conference very promptly, and we're going to ask for an interim order that he not be deported, pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country," he said.

A judge subsequently issued an interim order halting his deportation. The Trump administration has indicated plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda, which has recently agreed to accept certain deportees from the U.S. He declined an offer to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading guilty to human smuggling charges.

Abrego Garcia is also facing allegations of being a danger to the community and a member of the MS-13 gang, which he denies. He has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges, which stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. During that stop, officers suspected smuggling but allowed him to continue driving with only a warning.

After being released from a Tennessee jail on Friday, Abrego Garcia returned to his family in Maryland. Video footage shared by advocates showed a joyful reunion decorated with streamers and flowers, where he expressed gratitude to his loved ones for their support.