Wrongly deported Maryland resident Kilmar Armando Ábrego García has faced a constant back-and-forth with the Trump administration over his immigration status in the last seven months.
The Trump administration mistakenly deported Ábrego García to his native El Salvador in March. The 30-year-old was under a protected legal status to stay in the United States after he came to the country, but was deported once U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him in Baltimore.
Ábrego García came to the U.S. illegally about 14 years ago to flee threats of gang violence in El Salvador, and has lived in the country since. The Trump administration said he was deported based on a 2019 allegation that he is a part of the MS-13 gang, which his family and lawyers deny.
His case has caught international attention and become a broader symbol of President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration.
The Diamondback has compiled our coverage to document the timeline of events regarding Ábrego García. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
The U.S. Justice Department appealed a federal court ruling that ordered Ábrego García’s return to the U.S. after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The court ruling determined that the Trump administration violated the Immigration and National Security Act because it deported Ábrego García “without any legal process.”
April 7, 2025
A federal judge reaffirmed her ruling that the Trump administration must return Ábrego García to the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court then paused the federal judge’s ruling demanding the Trump administration to return Ábrego García to the U.S. from El Salvador.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to return Ábrego García. The court paused the first to review the appeal.
El Salvador president Nayib Bukele said he would not return Ábrego García to the U.S. during a visit to the White House. Ábrego García had been kept in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center.
The mega-prison does not allow prisoners to go outside or receive visits from their families, the Associated Press reported. Many activist organizations have accused authorities of human rights violations in the prison, the outlet reported.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) went to El Salvador to request the release of Ábrego García. El Salvador’s vice president told the senator that he could not meet with or call Ábrego García.
April 18, 2025
Van Hollen met with Ábrego García in El Salvador after he was first denied. The senator held a news conference afterward and continued to advocate for Ábrego García’s release.
A U.S. district judge ruled that the Trump administration wrongfully deported another Maryland man in March. The 20-year-old man from Venezuela was deported to El Salvador despite having a pending asylum petition.
Members of the Prince George’s County Council called for the release of Ábrego García from El Salvador. Multiple council members also attended a rally in early April planned by CASA — an immigration advocacy organization — to express their support for Ábrego García and his family.
Van Hollen and three other senators introduced legislation on May 1 to force the Trump administration to report how it’s complying with court orders related to U.S. citizens or residents wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
Ábrego García returned to the U.S. A federal grand jury in Tennessee delivered an indictment that charged him with alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. The indictment alleged that from about 2016 through 2025, Ábrego García and others transported undocumented migrants to the U.S. from other Latin American countries for financial gain.
A federal judge in Tennessee ordered the release of Ábrego García from jail after he returned to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges.
July 23, 2025
A federal judge blocked ICE from immediately detaining Ábrego García if he was released from Tennessee jail. The judge ordered the federal government to give three business days’ notice if ICE intends to begin deportation proceedings against him.
ICE detained Ábrego García in Baltimore, days after his release from federal custody in Tennessee. The agency informed Abrego Garcia “within minutes” of his release from federal custody that it plans to deport him to Uganda.
A court order prevented ICE from immediately deporting him to Uganda.
ICE planned to send Ábrego García to the African nation of Eswatini after he expressed fear of being deported to Uganda.
The agency’s attorneys wrote in a letter that Ábrego Garcia’s fear of being deported to Uganda was “hard to take seriously.” The Maryland resident had listed 22 countries that he expressed fear for his safety, according to the letter.
