After mistaken deportation, US asks judge to let it send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia

"U.S. government attorneys say they have cleared all the hurdles needed to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia and are asking a federal judge to dissolve an order blocking his deportation. Abrego Garcia's mistaken deportation to his home country of El Salvador earlier this year has helped galvanize opposition to President Donald Trump's immigration policies. His attorneys claim the administration is now manipulating the immigration system in order to punish him for successfully challenging that deportation."

"A motion from the government filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland late on Friday says officials have received assurances from Liberia that Abrego Garcia would not face persecution or torture there. Further, it says an immigration officer heard Abrego Garcia's claims that he feared deportation to the West African nation, but ruled against him. His attorneys argue in a separate Friday filing that Abrego Garcia has already designated Costa Rica as a country where he is willing to be deported."

"Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, finding he faced danger there. But in March, he was deported to El Salvador anyway in what a government attorney later said was an administrative error."

U.S. government attorneys say they have cleared all hurdles to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia and asked a federal judge to dissolve an order blocking his deportation. Officials say Liberia assured that Abrego Garcia would not face persecution or torture. An immigration officer reportedly heard Abrego Garcia's fear of deportation to Liberia but ruled against him. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March despite a 2019 immigration judge's grant of protection, and was brought back to the U.S. in June. His attorneys say he designated Costa Rica for removal and contend continued efforts to deport him are retaliatory and violate due process.

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