The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man at the center of a years-long immigration battle, this time to the small African kingdom of Eswatini.
According to an email obtained by CNN, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) informed Abrogate Garcia on Friday that Eswatini is now his designated country of removal. The move comes after he raised objections to being deported to other countries, including Uganda.
“That claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries,” the ICE email read. The message also noted his concerns about returning to El Salvador, where he was mistakenly deported earlier this year and spent time in a notorious mega prison.
An ICE official confirmed the plan, telling CNN: “TRUE: An immigration judge ordered him removed and ICE will comply with that order.”
Abrego Garcia is currently being held in ICE custody after he was brought back to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges. But the Trump administration is pushing to deport him again, even before his trial concludes.
A federal judge ruled last week that he cannot be deported until at least early October, after administration officials testify about their attempts to re-deport him.
Abrego Garcia has expressed a preference to be sent to Costa Rica, which has indicated it would be open to granting him legal status. His lawyers say the administration previously offered that option in exchange for a guilty plea, but he declined.
Eswatini formerly Swaziland is a small country in Southeast Africa, about the size of New Jersey, and one of the few nations that has agreed to accept deportees under a deal with the Trump administration. The others include Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda.
Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia is also pursuing asylum in the U.S., a separate case that will play out before an immigration judge.
