Kilmar Abrego Garcia: A Timeline  

The Latest: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Kilmar Abrego Garcia into custody Monday when he appeared for an immigration check-in, according to Garcia’s attorney. Back in March, the U. S. had deported him to an El Salvador prison. The Trump administration first said the deportation was an “administrative error,” but has since maintained that Abrego Garcia is a dangerous individual and an MS-13 gang member. 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Timeline:  

2012: As a teenager, Abrego Garcia crossed into the U.S. illegally – something he later acknowledged. 

2019: Abrego arrested Authorities alleged, based on an informant, that he was a member of MS-13. 

• An immigration judge denied his application for asylum but also ruled he couldn’t be sent back to El Salvador due to credible fears of persecution by gangs there. He was then allowed to stay in the U.S. temporarily and receive a work permit – but under ICE supervision and with check-ins. 

• The appellate court found the evidence supporting Garcia’s alleged MS-13 membership to be credible. “Regardless, the determinization that the Respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record, namely, information contained in the Gang Field Interview Sheet. Although the Court is reluctant to give evidentiary weight to the Respondent’s clothing as an indication of gang affiliation, the fact that a ‘past, proven, and reliable source of information’ verified the Respondent’s gang membership, rank, and gang name is sufficient to support that the Respondent is a gang member, and the Respondent has failed to present evidence to rebut that assertion.” Garcia denied any MS-13 affiliation but could not present any evidence to refute the court’s claim. 

2021: His wife filed a temporary protective order alleging abuse. She says she later dropped the case after the two worked through their issues in counseling. 

March – April 2025: Despite the 2019 order, Abrego Garcia was deported to a supermax prison in El Salvador, and SCOTUS unanimously affirmed the lower court rulings ordering the U.S. to facilitate his return. 

• ICE officials later admitted the deportation was an “administrative error.” 

June 2025: He was returned to the U.S., where an indictment was unsealed charging him with one count of conspiracy to transport undocumented people and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented people. 

• The case began with a 2022 traffic stop, when a TN highway patrolman stopped the car he was driving for speeding and suspected human trafficking. No charges were filed at that time. 

• He pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers argue the charges are retaliatory, stemming from his legal challenge to being deported to El Salvador. 

August 22, 2025: Abrego Garcia was released from federal custody in Tennessee. 

August 25, 2025: He was taken into ICE custody after his check-in at a Baltimore field office 

• According to his lawyers, U.S. officials offered to deport him to Costa Rica if he pleaded guilty to transporting migrants living illegally in the U.S, rather than face deportation to Uganda. (The U.S. and Uganda have recently formed an agreement, where Uganda will accept some deportees from the U.S.)