U.S. immigration officials have announced their intention to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after the Salvadoran national and suspected MS13 gang member rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to Costa Rica, according to a court filing submitted Saturday.

The plea deal, offered late Thursday, proposed that Mr. Abrego Garcia plead guilty to human smuggling charges and remain in a Tennessee jail in exchange for eventual relocation to Costa Rica. He declined the offer and was subsequently released from jail on Friday to await a January trial in Maryland with his family.

Hours after his release, the Department of Homeland Security informed his attorneys of the plan to deport him to Uganda, ordering him to report to immigration authorities on Monday. The Saturday court filing by his lawyers, which supplements an existing motion to dismiss the case, argues that the sudden threat of deportation to Uganda is further evidence of a vindictive prosecution.

“Despite having requested and received assurances from the government of Costa Rica that Mr. Abrego would be accepted there, within minutes of his release from pretrial custody, an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] representative informed Mr. Abrego’s counsel that the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego to Uganda and ordered him to report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office Monday morning,” the brief says.

“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,” his lawyers wrote.

Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case has become a high-profile challenge to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. He was deported to El Salvador in March, despite a judge’s ruling that he had a “well-founded fear” of violence in his home country. After a court order, the administration returned him to the United States in June, only to detain him on human smuggling charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

The proposed deal with Costa Rica would have offered Mr. Abrego Garcia a path to legal immigration to a Spanish-speaking country after serving his sentence. A letter from the Costa Rican government included in the filing confirmed he would be welcomed without the risk of detention.

Federal officials maintain that Mr. Abrego Garcia is eligible for expulsion because a U.S. immigration judge ordered his removal in 2019, though not specifically to El Salvador. An email from ICE to his lawyers on Friday cited a recent ruling requiring he be given 72 hours’ notice before deportation.

“Please let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends),” the email said, according to his lawyers’ filing. 

His attorneys declined to comment on the status of the plea offer, noting only that their client rejected the condition of remaining in jail, and said they would “communicate the government’s proposal to Mr. Abrego.”

The White House reiterated its claims on Friday, accusing Mr. Abrego of being a violent gang member.

“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,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “Garcia will be subject to ankle monitoring to ensure the safety of the American public until further action can be taken.”