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The Salvadoran national's case has become a magnet for
opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies
since he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, in violation of
a settlement agreement. He was returned to the U.S. in June
after the U.S. Supreme Court said the administration had to work
to bring him back. Since he cannot be re-deported to El
Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of
African countries.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Maryland has previously barred his
immediate deportation. Abrego Garcia's lawsuit there claims the
Trump administration is illegally using the deportation process
to punish him for the embarrassment of his earlier mistaken
deportation.
A Friday court filing from the Department of Homeland Security
notes that “Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the
United States’s closest partners on the African continent.” Its
national language is English; its constitution “provides robust
protections for human rights;” and Liberia is “committed to the
humane treatment of refugees,” the filing reads. It concludes
that Abrego Garcia could be deported as soon as Oct. 31.
“After failed attempts with Uganda, Eswatini, and Ghana, ICE now
seeks to deport our client, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to Liberia, a
country with which he has no connection, thousands of miles from
his family and home in Maryland,” a statement from attorney
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg reads. “Costa Rica stands ready to
accept him as a refugee, a viable and lawful option. Yet the
government has chosen a course calculated to inflict maximum
hardship. These actions are punitive, cruel, and
unconstitutional.”
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and lived in
Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a
teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection
from being deported back to El Salvador, where he faces a
“well-founded fear” of violence from a gang that targeted his
family, according to court filings. In a separate action in
immigration court, Abrego Garcia has applied for asylum in the
United States.
Additionally, Abrego Garcia is facing criminal charges in
federal court in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to
human smuggling. He has filed a motion to dismiss the charges,
claiming the prosecution is vindictive.
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