Amid Kilmar Abrego Garcia legal wranglings, Salvadoran again seeks asylum in US

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man at the center of widely watched legal wranglings with the federal government, is making a fresh bid for asylum in the U.S., and he is also pushing back against the government’s plan to remove him to Uganda, and instead suggesting Costa Rica.

“At 5pm yesterday, Petitioner filed a motion to reopen before an immigration judge pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §1003.23(b)(4)(i), to seek asylum in the United States pursuant to 8 U.S.C. §1158,” a Tuesday court filing noted.

Abrego Garcia — who was arrested at an ICE facility on Monday, could be heard saying, “gobierno corrupto,” which translates to “corrupt government,” in a video posted on X by the Department of Homeland Security.

ABREGO GARCIA HEARD SAYING TWO WORDS DURING ICE ARREST

“I, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia … hereby state that I fear persecution in UGANDA on account of my race, nationality, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group,” he claimed in a document titled “Notice of Fear of Removal to UGANDA. 

“I also fear torture by or at the acquiescence of a public official in that country. Finally, I feat [sic] that country will refoul me (re-deport me) to EL SALVADOR, where I also fear persecution on account of the above-mentioned protected grounds and torture by or at the acquiescence of a public official, and where I have been tortured in the past.”

Costa Rica has indicated that it would be willing to accept him, and Abrego Garcia has expressed that as his preference.

FEDERAL JUDGE TEMPORARILY BARS ABREGO GARCIA FROM DEPORTATION TO UGANDA

Back in 2019, an immigration judge signed an order denying Abrego Garcia’s application for asylum, but granted an application for withholding of removal. 

But earlier this year, the U.S. removed him to El Salvador. 

Following legal wranglings, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Salvadoran man had “landed in the United States to face justice,” noting that the U.S. “government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant, and they agreed to return him to our country.” 

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A grand jury returned an indictment against him earlier this year that included a count for “Conspiracy to Transport Aliens” and a count for “Unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens.” 

He pleaded not guilty.