Kilmar Abrego Garcia files new bid to stay in the US

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man at the heart of a high-profile case related to President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation efforts, is renewing his attempt to stay in the United States by reapplying for asylum. His legal team filed a motion in immigration court on Monday to assert his asylum claim, just hours after Abrego was taken into custody during a “check-in” with immigration authorities, a mandatory meeting he had been ordered to attend.

The motion was publicly revealed by his attorneys in a court filing on Tuesday, part of a broader legal strategy to prevent his deportation to Uganda, a country his lawyers argue he has no connections to and where he could face new threats. Abrego’s lead attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, explained that while Abrego initially agreed to be deported to Costa Rica, he now plans to resist any deportation attempt from the U.S.

Abrego entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and has already been deported once this year—sent back to El Salvador in March by the Trump administration. However, courts ruled that this deportation was unlawful, and Abrego was brought back to the U.S. in June. Upon his return, he was charged with human smuggling, a charge he denies.

In a statement, Sandoval-Moshenberg clarified that Abrego’s recent reentry into the U.S. within the past year allows him to make a new claim for asylum. Abrego had previously sought asylum in 2019, but a judge denied his request because he did not apply within one year of his initial arrival in the U.S., as required by law. Sandoval-Moshenberg emphasized that the only reason Abrego’s asylum application was denied before was due to the timing of his initial request.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, presiding over Abrego’s new lawsuit, said in a video conference on Wednesday that she does not have jurisdiction over the asylum process itself. However, she intends to expedite hearings on Abrego’s attempt to block his deportation to Uganda, which she sees as a priority given public statements from Trump and other government officials about their firm intention to deport him there. Xinis pointed out that the urgency with which the government is pursuing his deportation indicates the need for swift legal action in the case.

The judge also noted that she would maintain an order preventing the government from moving Abrego outside the U.S. while his lawsuit is pending. Furthermore, she has mandated that Abrego be kept within 200 miles of her courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, during the legal proceedings. The hearing on his deportation block is scheduled for October 6

SOURCE: POLITICO