US judge tries to block deportation of Salvadorian native to Liberia

A United States federal judge on Monday requested assurances that officials would not deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia while an injunction barring his removal from the US is in place.

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a notice of its plan to send the Salvadoran national to Liberia, the latest in a series of possible African destinations.

Abrego Garcia entered the US illegally as a teenager in 2011 after fleeing gang violence in his home country and is married to an American with whom he has children.

In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported to El Salvador, saying he faced a “well-founded fear” of violence from a gang that 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.