On Thursday morning, Senator Mark Warner visited with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and other immigrants detained at the Farmville Detention Center. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Abrego Garcia is the 30-year-old Maryland man whose wrongful deportation to an El Salvador megaprison earlier this year launched him into the national spotlight. The government allowed his return to the U.S. in June after fighting in the courts to prevent it. He was then charged with human trafficking in Tennessee based on a 2022 traffic stop, when Abrego Garcia was given a warning for speeding, but officers noted he had nine passengers in the vehicle. His attorneys have said the criminal charges are the government's attempt to justify the mistaken deportation.
After being released from jail in Tennessee while that case is ongoing, Abrego Garcia turned himself in to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore on Monday. He is now being held in Farmville.
Warner published a video statement following his visit.
MARK WARNER: I gave him letters from his family, and you can imagine how emotional he was. He wants to keep fighting for justice, and while I can't weigh in in on some of the allegations from the Trump administration, I know this – they wrongfully moved him to El Salvador, and now, in an effort to retaliate if he doesn't plead guilty, they're threatening to send him to Uganda, where he had no ties at all. That's not how the system works.
The Associated Press reported last week that Abrego Garcia's attorneys said immigration officials put Uganda on the table after he declined to plead guilty to the human smuggling charges.
Abrego Garcia was denied asylum in 2019 on a technicality, but the immigration judge did grant him "withholding of removal," a court order that prohibits him from being deported to El Salvador. His attorneys have said that status was granted because of a well-founded fear of persecution by gangs. However, it is possible he could legally be deported to another country.
