Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant previously deported to El Salvador before being returned to the U.S. when Democrats ran a high-profile campaign to secure his return, has been taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Maryland. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Garcia “will be processed for removal to Uganda.”

Garcia was among a group of illegal immigrants deported to El Salvador early this year under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), which President Donald Trump invoked in order to arrest and deport Venezuelan nationals affiliated with the international criminal gang and foreign terrorist organization (FTO) Tren de Aragua (TdA). However, Democrats quickly began clamoring for Garcia’s return, claiming the deportation was a mistake: he was a Salvadoran national, not Venezuelan, and, according to law enforcement officials, was affiliated with the international criminal gang and FTO Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), not TdA. Lawsuits were filed and a federal court eventually ordered the Trump administration to return Garcia to the U.S.

Although the Supreme Court initially stayed that order, along with its arbitrary deadlines, the nation’s highest court did urge the Trump administration to at least make efforts to secure Garcia’s return, acknowledging that the directive may not be possible to achieve. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, credited with dismantling MS-13 in his home country, confirmed that Garcia is an MS-13 member and refused to facilitate his return. Led by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a coalition of Democrats began a campaign petitioning the Trump administration to bring Garcia back to the U.S. Van Hollen even visited Garcia in prison in El Salvador, where the senator was photographed sipping cocktails with the MS-13 affiliate.

Eventually, Van Hollen and his Democratic colleagues got their wish: Garcia was returned to the U.S. However, he was returned in order to face human trafficking charges, including smuggling fellow MS-13 members into the country, filed in the Middle District of Tennessee. Garcia has been accused of abusing trafficked women and even soliciting nude photos from a child. He has also been accused of beating his wife on multiple occasions. Bukele commented, upon agreeing to return Garcia to the U.S., that “we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn’t refuse.” Referring to Van Hollen’s photo-op, he added, “No more margaritas under custody.”

Garcia was released from jail in Tennessee last week and headed back to Maryland. He was detained Monday during a mandatory check-in at an ICE detention facility. According to Garcia’s lawyers, the DOJ and DHS are offering to deport Garcia to Costa Rica if he pleads guilty to the charges against him, but threatening to deport him to Uganda if he does not cooperate.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, said, “Deporting Abrego Garcia to a third country is consistent with both the immigration judge’s order for him and federal court rulings regarding the president’s authority. His case has opened Americans’ eyes to how deportable aliens receive excessive process in our current immigration system.” She observed, “As for the Left’s argument that he should stay in the U.S. to keep his family intact, Abrego Garcia made several choices that got him to this point today. Now, he gets to make another family choice about if they will live in separate countries.”

Ries continued, “But that’s on him, not America. ‘Family unity’ is a decades-old argument by the Left to trump all immigration violations while ignoring personal responsibility. No more. We need to make personal responsibility great again.”

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, quipped, “It’s not over yet, but this case reminds me of an old song: ‘I fought the law and the law won.’” She told TWS, “It’s looking more and more likely that Abrego Garcia is fighting a losing battle. He can accept a prolonged time as an inmate here while he fights his human smuggling case, or he can cut his losses and accept deportation to Uganda, and hopefully start a new life there.” She added, “That is the best outcome for him, for the government, and for American taxpayers.”

“There is only so long that sympathetic federal judges can stretch this out. Why these judges are so sympathetic is a mystery to most Americans. One also wonders how long leftist advocacy groups will continue to bankroll legal representation for gang members and other criminals,” Vaughan observed. “This case is a massive waste of time and resources for everyone involved. ICE should be commended for calmly and competently doing its job at every step. That will send a message to other criminal aliens who try to game our system, who once would have succeeded under less resolute federal leaders and different policies.”

Vaughan added, “In addition, the State Department should be commended for its new attitude working with ICE as a full partner to find a diplomatic solution for a complicated situation.”

Before being taken into custody at ICE’s Baltimore detention facility, Garcia hosted a rally with “supporters.” In Spanish, with an English translator, he said, “Brothers and sisters, my name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I want you to remember this: Remember that I am free, and I was able to be reunited with my family.”

Vaughan commented, “The spectacle of Abrego Garcia and his fans holding a rally in front of the ICE office in Baltimore, and the shameful display of mindless support for him, complete with artsy posters with his sanitized portrait, as if he were a hero instead of a drug-dealing, human trafficking, wife-beating gang member, is a little sickening.” She added, “Sadly, there is no such sympathy for the victims who suffered from that gang’s violence, extortion, and other abuse in the community.”