CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – In a court proceeding in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis found the immigrant the Trump Administration brought back from El Salvador after mistakenly taking him there taken back into ICE custody is being held in Virginia. Additionally, concerned the feds may try to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda while proceedings are ongoing, Judge Xinis has been seeking assurances he stays in Virginia. Abrego Garcia was released from jail in Nashville as he awaits a trial scheduled in January on human trafficking allegations, as long as he went to his family in Maryland and abided by a number of conditions.

Of a number of issues Judge Xinis expressed concerns is the constitutionality of offering him deportation to Costa Rica where he would become a legal citizen if he pleaded guilty to federal human trafficking charges in DC or face deportation to Uganda if he doesn’t accept the deal. Additionally, Judge Xinis wanted to make sure Abrego Garcia remains detained in Virginia within 200 miles of where his hearings take place so he continues to have access to lawyers and resources. Virginia has two ICE detention facilities: Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green which is a little more than 100 miles from Baltimore, and Abyon/Farmville Detention Facility a little more than 200 miles away from the hearing location.

Abrego Garcia was free for three days over the weekend until he was taken into custody at Baltimore’s ICE field office where his attorney said he went for “an interview”.