00:00Breaking just a short time ago, since we have been on the air, Kimball Obrego-Garcia was taken into ICE custody.
00:07DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed he is being processed for deportation.
00:11His attorneys now threatening new legal action if that happens.
00:15And they say he could be sent to Uganda unless he accepts a plea deal today that would have said seem deported to Costa Rica.
00:22So there's a lot going on here, all these new developments.
00:25Let's get right to CNN's Purcell Alvarez in Baltimore with the very latest.
00:29What are you learning now, Priscilla?
00:33Well, John, there have been multiple developments within a span of two hours.
00:37It wasn't that long ago that Kimball Obrego-Garcia was standing right behind me along with his wife
00:43as he was thanking organizers and his family before going into that federal building behind me
00:48to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
00:51But then only 45 minutes later is when we learned from his attorney
00:54that he was taken into ICE custody shortly after entering the building.
01:00And here's what his attorney had to say.
01:05If they want to deport him to any other country, they need to go through that exact same process.
01:10Unless and until they have gone through that process, they do not have the right to put him on an airplane.
01:18And that's what we're going to be asking the district court to ensure,
01:22that he is not put on any flight to any country whatsoever, whether it's Uganda, South Sudan, what have you,
01:30unless and until he has had a full and fair trial.
01:34Now, the big question here, John, is where he is going to be deported.
01:42That is exactly what his attorney was talking about there.
01:45Previously, the administration had offered a plea deal that if he were to plea to two federal charges
01:51and carry out his criminal sentence here in the United States, that he'd be deported to Costa Rica.
01:55But if not, the Trump administration would deport him to Uganda, a country with which he has no ties to.
02:00That has been something the administration has leaned on often, the removals to third countries.
02:06But the attorney said that Quirman Abreu-Garcia is OK with being deported to Costa Rica.
02:11The question is, will the administration do it if the plea deal is not accepted,
02:15which we know from his other attorneys that it has not been accepted.
02:20So there is still a process yet to unfold here.
02:23And it is in part because of a federal judge earlier this summer that said that Abreu-Garcia
02:28and his attorneys had to be notified at least 72 hours prior to removal where he'd be removed
02:34so that his attorneys can have the opportunity to contest that removal.
02:38And that is the process that we'll be looking out for here.
02:40His attorney also saying that filed a new lawsuit, contesting again his deportation and his detainment
02:47because his attorney stands by the fact that there is no reason for which he should be detained right now.
02:52He was already under monitoring. So the attorney says there's no basis for his detention,
02:57which is yet another question that they did not get an answer to today from ICE, where he will be detained.
03:02It is very common that when ICE takes custody of people, they can detain them in their different centers across the country.
03:08So at this hour, there are still a couple of questions here.
03:10Where will he be deported? And also, where will he be detained until that deportation?
03:15And this, again, has been a dramatic legal saga that has gone for months now,
03:19starting with his deportation, his wrongful one to El Salvador earlier this year.
03:24Now, again, as I had mentioned, Abreu-Garcia did speak to the crowd earlier this morning,
03:28where he thanked his family, and this is what he had to say.
03:32Brothers and sisters, my name is Kilmar Abreu-Garcia, and I want you to remember this.
03:45Remember that I am free, and I was able to be reunited with my family.
03:51Now, again, his fate and his future is still uncertain at this hour,
04:01but the fact that we do know is that he is in custody in the building behind me here in Baltimore.
04:07John?
04:07Yeah, that was just after 7 o'clock in the morning when he said,
04:10I am free. By 8 o'clock, 8.15, no longer the case.
04:14Priscilla Alvarez in Baltimore watching it all unfold.
04:17Great to have you there. Thank you very much.
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