A U.S. federal judge on Monday demanded formal assurances from immigration authorities that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, would not be deported while a court injunction protecting him from removal remains in effect. The case has drawn widespread attention as Abrego Garcia, who fled gang violence in El Salvador as a teenager in 2011, faces possible deportation not to his home country but to Liberia, a country with which he has no known tie
Abrego Garcia, now in his early 30s, entered the United States without documentation and later married an American citizen, with whom he has two children. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation, citing a “well-founded fear” of persecution from a violent gang that had previously targeted his family. However, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has repeatedly attempted to remove him, at one point wrongly deporting him to El Salvador in 2020, where he was imprisoned for several months in harsh conditions despite having no criminal record. Following public outrage and a court order, he was returned to the U.S., only to be detained again on human smuggling charges, which his lawyers argue were politically motivated.
ICE recently filed notice of its intention to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia, the latest in a series of potential destinations including Ghana, Eswatini, South Sudan, and Rwanda that have reportedly agreed to accept U.S. deportees under bilateral arrangements. During Monday’s hearing, the judge questioned why ICE ignored Costa Rica’s offer to accept Abrego Garcia as a refugee, noting that the Central American nation had explicitly promised not to re-deport him to El Salvador. “This effort to send him to Liberia — a country he’s never set foot in is both cruel and unconstitutional,” said his attorney, who emphasized that Abrego Garcia has no family, cultural, or linguistic ties to the West African nation.
Liberia’s government confirmed last week that it would accept Abrego Garcia if deported, stressing that it had not been pressured by Washington to do so. The U.S. has reportedly expanded similar deportation deals with several African countries, despite mounting criticism from human rights advocates. Immigration observers say the case highlights ongoing controversies in U.S. deportation practices, including the use of “third-country removals” sending migrants to nations they have never lived in and the lack of transparency surrounding such agreements. For now, the court’s injunction remains in place, temporarily halting Abrego Garcia’s deportation. His legal team plans to pursue further relief to ensure that the U.S. government honors international asylum protections and due process.
