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Deadline: Legal Blog-Abrego's criminal case was always a farce. The government's latest actions show why.
Attorney General Pam Bondi previously touted the importance of Abrego’s criminal charges. Now the government wants to deport him to Uganda.
Abrego’s criminal case was always a farce. The government’s latest actions show why.
— Nate (@palm7x.bsky.social) 2025-08-25T14:33:01.009Z
Attorney General Pam Bondi previously touted the importance of Abrego’s criminal charges. Now the government wants to deport him to Uganda.
www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/kilmar-abrego-garcia-criminal-case-pam-bondi-rcna226934
But a court filing from Abrego’s lawyers over the weekend shows that the administration has taken its vengeance to a new level. According to the filing, on Thursday — the day before he would be released — the government told his counsel that if he agreed to stay in custody and plead guilty, then he could be deported to Costa Rica after he serves whatever sentence the court would impose. Like El Salvador, Costa Rica is a Spanish-speaking country in Central America.....
After his release, an immigration official said the government now wants to deport him to the African nation of Uganda. He was ordered to report to a Baltimore immigration office on Monday morning and was given until then either to accept the Costa Rica deal “or else that offer will be off the table forever,” Abrego’s lawyers wrote in the Saturday filing......
I should note that in criminal cases across the country — ones you’ve never heard of and never will — prosecutors make plea offers that force defendants to make choices that would put them in bad situations immediately to avoid worse fates down the line. Against that backdrop, it’s unsurprising that most cases don’t go to trial. In the ones that do, defendants who are convicted face greater punishment than they would have faced had they pleaded guilty, a phenomenon that’s been called “the trial penalty.” So at least from the defense’s vantage point, there’s an element of legalized coercion baked into the system.
In that light, it’s understandable that not everyone sees American justice as a righteous concept to begin with. But it can always be further degraded.
The Trump administration seems hellbent on such degradation. Having embarrassed itself with the illegal removal of Abrego and failure to quickly fix it, it’s now acting as a sort of dystopian travel agent in a desperate bid to avoid a criminal case that it didn’t have to bring in the first place.
Rather than ensuring that Abrego “face justice,” as Bondi proclaimed upon his U.S. return, the government appears to be trying to save face. No matter what happens next, that won’t be possible in the eyes of people who’ve been paying attention. The damage to American justice has been done.
After his release, an immigration official said the government now wants to deport him to the African nation of Uganda. He was ordered to report to a Baltimore immigration office on Monday morning and was given until then either to accept the Costa Rica deal “or else that offer will be off the table forever,” Abrego’s lawyers wrote in the Saturday filing......
I should note that in criminal cases across the country — ones you’ve never heard of and never will — prosecutors make plea offers that force defendants to make choices that would put them in bad situations immediately to avoid worse fates down the line. Against that backdrop, it’s unsurprising that most cases don’t go to trial. In the ones that do, defendants who are convicted face greater punishment than they would have faced had they pleaded guilty, a phenomenon that’s been called “the trial penalty.” So at least from the defense’s vantage point, there’s an element of legalized coercion baked into the system.
In that light, it’s understandable that not everyone sees American justice as a righteous concept to begin with. But it can always be further degraded.
The Trump administration seems hellbent on such degradation. Having embarrassed itself with the illegal removal of Abrego and failure to quickly fix it, it’s now acting as a sort of dystopian travel agent in a desperate bid to avoid a criminal case that it didn’t have to bring in the first place.
Rather than ensuring that Abrego “face justice,” as Bondi proclaimed upon his U.S. return, the government appears to be trying to save face. No matter what happens next, that won’t be possible in the eyes of people who’ve been paying attention. The damage to American justice has been done.