Lawyers of Kilmar Abrego Garcia say he wants to seek asylum in the US

Lawyers of Kilmar Abrego Garcia say he wants to seek asylum in US

Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers are arguing he has a right to seek asylum in the United States after being detained Monday in Baltimore by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers are arguing he has a right to seek asylum in the United States after being detained Monday in Baltimore by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

What we know:

Abrego Garcia, who has been publicly named by the administration as a member of the dangerous MS-13 gang — an allegation he denies — had previously been shielded from deportation to his home country. His lawyers told a federal judge on Wednesday that their client wants to seek asylum in the U.S. and is fighting deportation efforts in court, according to AP. 

He had been taken into custody in Baltimore on Monday after being released from a Tennessee jail last Friday. While administration officials have identified Garcia as an MS-13 gang member, his lawyers say he denies these claims. 

Abrego Garcia's lawyers argue he has the right to express a fear of persecution and torture in Uganda, and he has also told immigration authorities that if he is removed from the U.S., he would prefer to be sent to Costa Rica.

Garcia had previously been denied asylum in 2019 by an immigration judge because he applied more than a year after arriving in the U.S. from El Salvador. However, the same judge issued an order to protect him from being deported to his home country, citing credible threats of violence against him and his family from a gang that had terrorized them.