Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García, accused by United States authorities of ties to the violent MS-13 criminal gang, now faces deportation to Uganda, less than 24 hours after his release from a Tennessee jail, in what marks the first real test of Washington’s new migrant transfer deal with Kampala.
Ábrego García, accused by U.S. officials of having ties to the violent MS-13 criminal gang, a claim he strongly denies, was freed on Friday after refusing a plea bargain that would have sent him to Costa Rica the BBC reports
That deal, which included refugee status guaranteed by San José, collapsed when the Salvadoran national rejected a guilty plea for human smuggling.
With no other immediate option, U.S. authorities have turned to Uganda, one of the African states that has recently agreed to receive deported migrants under bilateral arrangements with Washington.
His attorney, Sean Hecker, accused U.S. authorities of coercion, arguing in court filings: “There can be only one interpretation of these events: the DOJ, DHS, and ICE are using their collective powers to force Mr. Abrego to choose between a guilty plea followed by relative safety, or rendition to Uganda, where his safety and liberty would be under threat.”
Uganda’s latest deportation agreement under scrutiny
The Trump administration has deepened its migrant relocation deals with several African governments, and Uganda has emerged as a key partner.
In a temporary agreement reached this August, Uganda agreed to accept third-country nationals deported from the U.S., specifically those denied asylum or unwilling to return to their home countries.
The deal excludes individuals with criminal records or unaccompanied minors, and Uganda favors deportees of African origin. The details of numbers and implementation timelines are still being worked out.
Officials in both capitals have presented the deal as a humanitarian measure, but critics say it exposes Uganda to dangerous security risks it may not be equipped to handle.
The Uganda arrangement follows on the heels of a similar pact with Eswatini, which drew global backlash after reports confirmed that individuals with serious criminal records, including violent offenders, had been deported there.
Human rights groups caution that the U.S. is exploiting smaller African nations with limited policing capacity, using them as dumping grounds for offenders it seeks to remove.
Melusi Simelane of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) told Al Jazeera that Washington is deliberately targeting countries with weaker human rights safeguards, warning: “The US’s actions are exploitative and tantamount to treating the continent as a ‘dumping ground.’”
Rising concerns at home
Ugandan civil society activists have raised alarm over the implications of the deportation deal, warning that it could overwhelm fragile security systems and deepen public mistrust of the government.
The Associated Press reports that human rights lawyer, Nicholas Opio compared the arrangement to human trafficking, questioning the legal status of those being sent to Uganda. “Are they refugees or prisoners?” he asked.
“The proposed deal runs afoul of international law. We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency; in this case because Uganda wants to be in the good books of the United States,” Opio said.
“That I can keep your prisoners if you pay me—how is that different from human trafficking?” He added.
Activists caution that accepting suspected members of violent transnational groups such as MS-13 could destabilize local communities and create new security risks. “This is not simply about migration—it is about national security,” one Kampala-based activist warned.
Analysts add that the U.S. approach risks fueling resentment across Africa, where many governments already see such deportation deals as unequal arrangements that prioritize Washington’s interests over local safety.
