A federal judge is allowing Salvadoran illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to stay in the U.S. until at least October as the Trump administration attempts to deport him.
Obama-appointed Maryland federal judge Paula Xinis set an evidentiary hearing for October 6 and plans to have Trump administration officials testify about the federal government’s plan to deport Garcia, CNN reported. She will make a decision on Garcia’s deportation within 30 days of the hearing and ordered the federal government to keep him in the U.S. for the time being.
Until further notice, Garcia will likely remain in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at a facility in the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia area. Garcia sought deportation to Costa Rica instead of Uganda and has expressed fears of political persecution and torture in the east African nation.
Garcia gained national prominence earlier this year when the Trump administration mistakenly deported him back to his home country in violation of a court order. The order permitted the federal government to deport Garcia to any other country except for El Salvador because of potential gang retaliation. His case became a flashpoint in national discussions about illegal immigration and the Trump administration’s plan to initiate mass deportations at an unprecedented scale.
The Trump administration detained Garcia earlier this week and was set to deport him to Uganda until Xinis intervened and put those plans on hold. Garcia is awaiting trial on federal charges related to the alleged transportation of illegal immigrants and is suspected of having ties to the MS-13 gang. He has plead not guilty to the charges and was let out on bail before his trial begins in January.
After he spent months in El Salvador’s notoriously brutal Terrorism Confinement Center, the Trump administration returned Garcia to the U.S. to face charges. Garcia said in court papers that he suffered vicious beatings and “psychological torture” during his time in the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, a facility meant to house gang members and other violent criminals.
Garcia’s attorney said at a court hearing Wednesday that he will be seeking asylum in the U.S. and asked an immigration judge to re-open proceedings. He spent more than a decade in Maryland after arriving to the U.S. illegally and previously applied for asylum unsuccessfully.