A federal judge in the United States asked assurances on Monday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia would not be deported while an injunction against his deportation from the country was in effect.
Last Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced its intention to transfer the Salvadoran national to Liberia, the latest in a string of potential African destinations.
Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally as a teenager in 2011 to flee gang violence in his home country, and he is married to an American with whom he has children.
In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to El Salvador, citing a “well-founded fear” of violence from a group that had targeted his family.
On Monday, the judge questioned why ICE did not deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica.
He has said he is willing to go to there because its government said it would take him in as a refugee and has promised it will not re-deport him to El Salvador.
His lawyer said he had no connection to Liberia, and that floating that as a deportation destination was “cruel and unconstitutional”.
Abrego Garcia became a symbol of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies when he was wrongly deported to his home country in March, where he was held in a notoriously brutal prison despite having no criminal record.
Facing public pressure and a court order, the administration brought him back months later and promptly detained him on human smuggling charges.
Liberia last week said it would accept Abrego Garcia into the country if the US deports him, adding that it had not been put under diplomatic pressure by Washington to do so.
Several African countries, including Eswatini, Ghana, South Sudan, and Rwanda have also agreed to accept US deportees despite opposition from public and civil society groups.
