NASHVILLE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has become the face of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, is in a Virginia detention center facing deportation to the east African country of Uganda.
The Maryland construction worker, 30, was detained Monday in Baltimore by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement after leaving a Tennessee jail on Friday. Administration officials have said he's part of the dangerous MS-13 gang , an allegation Abrego Garcia denies.
The Salvadoran national's lawyers are fighting the deportation efforts in court, arguing he has the right to express fear of persecution and torture in Uganda. Abrego Garcia has also told immigration authorities he would prefer to be sent to Costa Rica if he must be removed from the U.S.
It’s the latest twist in