Abrego Garcia case shows Uganda has ”no pride left”: Fmr. General

Former Ugandan General David Sejusa has condemned the damage to his country’s reputation caused by a high-profile trial of U.S. migrant Kilmaer Abrego Garcia, who faces possible deportation to the East African nation.

The retired intelligence chief said he was disappointed both in the Ugandan government’s “shameful” decision to accept U.S. deportees and in the lack of respect he believed U.S courts had shown by portraying Uganda as too unsafe for migrants.

”What has happened to this Country? No pride left, no ideological sensibilities left, no moral fibre left, no SHAME AT ALL? And even after our fall still, we are found UNWORTHY to keep an American criminal?" Sejusa wrote on X Tuesday.

His comment follows the decision by a U.S federal court on Monday to temporarily block the deportation of El Salvadorian migrant Kilmaer Abrego Garcia, citing concerns for his safety in Uganda.

During the legal proceeding, Abrego García said he feared being persecuted or tortured in the African nation.

Sejusa said Uganda was a ”laughing stock” in response to conservative media, Fox News, calling the country  a ”dangerous, corrupt, and polluted place” during their coverage of the court decision.

Ugandans slam deportation deal

Other Ugandan officials have joined in condemning the prospect of welcoming U.S deportees, after Kampala signed a controversial third-country asylum agreement with Washington on August 21.

“The whole scheme stinks,” said Mathias Mpuuga, until recently the leader of the opposition in Uganda’s national assembly, who criticised the lack of parliamentary approval of the deal.

The Ugandan government has released few details about the agreement, but said it prefers to receive deportees of African origin and doesn’t want individuals with criminal records.

Local resident Alex Masereka Joel expressed concern that Abrego Garcia could be sent to Uganda, “He has totally no connection [to Africa]. I was reading that he speaks Spanish, he doesn’t speak English... So he is going to be thrown in a place where he will probably need like a translator," Masereka Joel said.

State of the Abrego Garcia trial

Kilmaer Abrego Garcia entered the U.S illegally as a teenager in 2011 after fleeing gang violence. He became a national symbol of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies when he was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in his native El Salvador in March.

The Trump administration has continued efforts to re-deport Abrego Garcia to a third country upon his return to the U.S. After Monday’s court ruling, he was immediately arrested again by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over new charges for human trafficking, which he denies.

U.S Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem confirmed the arrest of Abrego Garcia and stated that ICE was “processing him for deportation to Uganda”.