Alleged MS-13 gangbanger and accused human smuggler Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from a Tennessee jail Friday and returned to his family in Maryland — but could be deported to Uganda by the end of the weekend, with ICE demanding he check in Monday. 

Abrego Garcia, 30, had been held at Putnam County Jail in Cookeville since June, after the Trump administration arranged his return from El Salvador to face human smuggling charges. 

The illegal migrant is en route to the Old Line State with a private security escort — returning for the first time since he was mistakenly booted from the country in March — but has just 48 hours to reach his brother’s house, where he will remain under strict home detention conditions, US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes ruled. 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. REUTERS

“While his release brings some relief, we all know that he is far from safe,” his attorney Simon Sandoval-Mohensberg said, according to NBC News. 

“ICE detention or deportation to an unknown third country still threatens to tear his family apart. A measure of justice has been done, but the government must stop pursuing actions that would once again separate his family.”

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys wrote in a court filing earlier this week that they hired a private security company to escort him across state lines, with Holmes granting his release as his federal human smuggling case moves forward. 

Abrego Garcia’s wife advocated for his return, despite complaining to authorities he was abusive. AP

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador, then brought back to face smuggling charges, is out of jail. via REUTERS

The Salvadoran is required to wear an ankle monitor, report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Baltimore office and may leave home only for work, religious services and other approved activities, according to the ruling. 

“Today has been a very special day because I have seen my family for the first time in more than 160 days,” the father of three said in a statement.

“I’d like to thank all the people who have supported me because after this long time, I have witnessed that so many people have been by my side with such positivity,” Abrego Garcia added.

“Today I am grateful to God because He has heard me, and today I am out. We are steps closer to justice, but justice has not been fully served.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said his release was “a new low.”

“By ordering this monster loose on America’s streets, the judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people,” she wrote on X.

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“We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country.”

Shortly after his release, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers were notified by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE that the federal agencies may deport him to Uganda “no earlier than 72 hours from now,” sources told Fox News. 

He was also ordered to report to ICE’s Baltimore office at 8 a.m. Monday for an interview, documents obtained by the outlet show. 

The judge ruled that Abrego Garcia be returned to the supervision of an ICE field office in Baltimore upon his release. REUTERS

Abrego Garcia’s smuggling allegations stem from a 2022 traffic stop where he was pulled over on a Tennessee highway with eight passengers in the car, but no luggage. Police in Tennessee had suspected human smuggling, but he was not charged at the time.

He was also previously accused of physically abusing his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a US citizen who has been fiercely advocating for his innocence.

Before the alleged gangbanger was brought back to the US, the Trump administration had shipped him off in March with other reputed gang members to El Salvador’s hellhole lockup, CECOT.

The admin admitted Abrego Garcia was deported by mistake under President Trump’s invocation of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, due to an “administrative error” — but maintained he was “confirmed to be a ranking member of the MS-13 gang by a proven and reliable source.”

Abrego Garcia previously entered the US illegally in 2011, before being handed a deportation order in 2019. REUTERS

Abrego Garcia has denied any affiliation with the violent gang. 

Last month, a federal judge ordered immigration agents to wait 72 hours after Abrego Garcia’s expected release from custody in Nashville before nabbing and deporting him to a third country, such as Mexico or South Sudan, where he is not originally from. 

The judge also ordered that Abrego Garcia be returned to the supervision of an ICE field office in Baltimore upon his release, the same office that had been keeping tabs on him prior to his arrest in mid-March. 

Abrego Garcia first entered the country illegally in 2011 and was handed an order shielding him from deportation in 2019 over potential threats from MS-13’s rivals in El Salvador.

The White House blasted his release as an “insult,” pressing that he will “face justice” for his crimes.

“Abrego Garcia is a criminal illegal alien, wife-beater, and an MS-13 gang member facing serious charges of human smuggling,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to NBC. 

“He will face justice for his crimes. It’s an insult to his victims that this left-wing magistrate intervened to put him back on the streets. Garcia will be subject to ankle monitoring to ensure the safety of the American public until further action can be taken.”