Kilmar Abrego Gracia, a construction worker from El Salvador, was detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore on Monday, August 25, 2025.
The news sparked a fierce legal and political battle over his deportation.
The detention occurred just a few days after he was released from the Tennessee jail on August 22, 2025 and briefly reunited with his family in Maryland.
The 30-year-old got emotional before turning himself in. Speaking to the crowd of roughly 200 supporters, he said, “God will bring justice to all the injustice suffering.”
His lawyers have filed a lawsuit, prompting an automatic two-day halt on deportation efforts for immigrants in Maryland challenging their detention.
They criticised the decision to deport him to Uganda as he has no connection in the country, which will make his survival difficult. Moreover, there are potential ties of El Salvador in the region, where a judge previously ruled he faces credible gang threats that can put his life at risk.
The case has become prominent due to the Trump’s administration’s immigration policy.
U.S. officials label him as an alleged gang member, seeking to charge him with human smuggling charges, which he denies.