Kilmar Abrego Garcia returns to federal court to continue fighting deportation case

The Trump administration has continued to seek his removal to a third country.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was returned to the U.S. after being mistakenly deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison, is set to return to federal court in Maryland on Tuesday to continue fighting his deportation case.

Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March 2025 to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to a fear of persecution. The Trump administration carried out the removal after claiming he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.

After the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that Abrego Garcia should be returned to the U.S., he was brought back last June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, after which U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis released him from ICE custody while he awaited trial. In May, a federal judge dismissed the criminal indictment against him, finding that the government's investigation had been tainted "with a vindictive motive."

In court filings, the Trump administration has continued to push for Abrego Garcia's deportation to a third country. Government officials have previously named Eswatini, Liberia, and Uganda as potential destinations for removal.

Abrego Garcia's attorneys said Costa Rica is his preferred designation if deported. Officials for the Central American country previously told ABC News the country would offer the Salvadoran refugee status and potential residency.

"What is unconstitutional is the Government's insistence on punitively removing him to an African country -- to which he has no connection and has asserted a fear of persecution or torture, including by future refoulement -- instead of the country which he validly designated, Costa Rica, in retaliation for exercising his constitutional and statutory rights," his lawyers said in a July court filing.