Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported, have filed an emergency motion to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum. The motion was submitted in a court filing on Tuesday. Abrego Garcia was rearrested on Monday in Maryland after being released from criminal custody in Tennessee on Friday. He is currently detained in Virginia, where the federal government is temporarily barred from deporting him while a habeas case is pending.

"At 5 p.m. yesterday, Petitioner filed a motion to reopen before an immigration judge to seek asylum in the United States," his attorneys stated in a proposed scheduling order. They requested that the immigration judge resolve the motion within two weeks.

The emergency motion argues that Abrego Garcia is eligible to apply for asylum within one year of his last entry into the U.S. because he was deported and then returned. His attorneys are asking the immigration court in Baltimore to "immediately" issue a stay of removal, allowing him to seek protection from potential persecution and torture in Uganda, where he could be sent.

"Respondent fears persecution and torture in Uganda because he is a Salvadoran national and would be a deportee without any legal status in Uganda," his attorney noted in the filing. The attorney also expressed concern that the Ugandan government might deport him back to El Salvador, where he could face further persecution.

The motion highlights that Abrego Garcia was unaware of the risk of deportation to Uganda, which prevented him from pursuing a protection claim. His attorneys also argued that reopening the case is necessary to allow him to designate Costa Rica as his country of removal. They mentioned that he recently received an offer of refugee status from Costa Rica, which includes assurances that he would not be detained or deported to El Salvador.

"The Court should grant Respondent's motion to reopen proceedings to allow Respondent to seek both asylum and protection from removal to Uganda based on changed circumstances," the filing stated.

Abrego Garcia, originally from El Salvador, was deported in March to a mega-prison in El Salvador despite a 2019 court order that prohibited his deportation due to fears of persecution. The Trump administration had claimed he was affiliated with the criminal gang MS-13, a claim his family and attorneys deny. He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face charges in Tennessee for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges.

After his release on Friday, Abrego Garcia was taken into immigration custody when he checked in with the ICE office in Baltimore on Monday. His attorneys reported that he may be deported to Uganda after he declined a plea deal that would have allowed him to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea to the human smuggling charges.

In a separate filing on Tuesday, attorneys in Abrego Garcia's criminal case criticized government officials for rearresting him on Monday. They opposed the government's request for additional time to respond to their claims of "vindictive and selective prosecution." A magistrate judge in Tennessee granted the government's request for an extension.

The attorneys stated, "Ordinarily, we would agree, as a matter of professional courtesy, to a request for an extension, after first consulting with our client. But the government has unilaterally re-arrested our client, notified us of its intention to deport him to Uganda, and rendered him (at least temporarily) unavailable to us."