Kilmer Abrego Garcia, shown in the center, was released from the Putnam County, Tennessee jail on August 22, 2025.
WASHINGTON – Attorneys representing Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who acknowledged that the Trump administration mistakenly attempted to deport him in March, have raised concerns regarding his recent transfer from one immigration facility in Virginia to another in Pennsylvania. They worry this move might hinder his access to legal counsel.
In a legal application submitted on Saturday, Garcia’s lawyer stated that relocating him to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, complicates preparations for his trial.
The attorney also highlighted troubling conditions at the facility, noting that a detainee had died by suicide the previous month.
“There have been reports of recent attacks, insufficient medical care, and food shortages. The Department of Homeland Security abruptly concluded its investigation into allegations of excessive force and abuse by security guards at this facility,” the lawyer remarked.
Last month, a Maryland judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Trump administration from transferring Garcia more than 200 miles from a federal court in Greenbelt. The facility in Pennsylvania is only 189 miles from the courthouse.
In his Maryland case, Garcia has challenged his removal from the U.S., requesting to stay while he pursues his asylum claim.
False Deportation Sparks Tension
Garcia’s accidental removal from the notorious mega prison in El Salvador has become a contentious issue between the judicial branch and the Trump administration as it intensifies its immigration enforcement. The U.S. Supreme Court directed the administration to facilitate Garcia’s return, leading immigration officers to bring him back to the States, where he now faces criminal charges that were filed in June.
Shortly after his return, the Trump administration attempted to transfer him to a third country that would comply with removal protections. While efforts continue to deport him to Uganda and Eswatini, Costa Rica has agreed to accept him as a refugee.
The criminal charges in Tennessee stem from a 2022 traffic stop involving Garcia and several others, though no claims were made at the time.
The Justice Department accuses Garcia of being involved in a long-standing conspiracy to smuggle immigrants across the U.S. without legal status, which he denies.
Asylum Application Denied
Garcia arrived in the U.S. in 2011 at just 16 years old, without legal permission. He applied for asylum in 2019 but missed the legal deadline to do so during his first year in the country. Instead, the immigration judge granted him a form of deportation protection known as withholding of removal, ruling that he likely faced gang violence if returned to El Salvador.
At that time, federal immigration officials did not contest the judge’s orders for withholding removal and were unable to find a third country for his deportation.
This year, Garcia was picking up his son when immigration officers detained him, leading to his deportation a few days later alongside hundreds of other men to the mega prison in El Salvador, where he subsequently claimed to have endured psychological and physical abuse.
