Judge rules Abrego Garcia's final removal order stands

Todd Karpovich, Baltimore Sun on Oct 2, 2025

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BALTIMORE — An immigration judge on Wednesday denied a motion by Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys to reopen his case, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“With today’s ruling, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s final order of removal stands,” officials with DHS said on social media. “This MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator will never be loose on American streets. His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain, this Salvadoran man is not going to be able to remain in our country. He will never be allowed to prey on innocent Americans again.”

In their motion filed in August, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argued that because he had been wrongfully deported to El Salvador and later returned to the United States. The attorneys said he should now be eligible to apply for asylum within one year of his most recent entry.

However, an immigration judge on Wednesday denied a motion by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys to reopen his case, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

In Wednesday’s order, Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor ruled that the motion was untimely, noting it was filed nearly six years after Abrego Garcia’s immigration proceedings, well beyond the 90-day deadline set by law.

Taylor also found that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that DHS intends to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda or any other third country. The ruling came after DHS notified his attorneys in August that the agency might send him to Uganda.

Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador who lived with his family in Maryland's Prince George’s County before his deportation, became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after being sent in March to a Salvadoran megaprison. Following a court order, the Trump administration returned him to the U.S. in June, where he was then detained on human smuggling charges.

In August, Abrego Garcia was released from a Tennessee jail and began his return to Maryland, his lawyer said.

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