Trump Admin Taking Steps To Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia To Another African Country

An ICE official will testify about the steps the Trump administration has taken to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the African country of Liberia as it continues its push to remove him from the country after being brought back from El Salvador.

CBS News detailed that the Justice Department said that Abrego Garcia in October failed to prove he would face persecution or torture in Liberia. Consequently, any additional due process steps would be unwarranted.

The claims are "procedurally barred multiple times over and fail on the merits in any event," said the DOJ in a filing. "This Court should therefore dissolve its preliminary injunction and permit the government to remove Petitioner to Liberia."

Officials added that the African country made "sufficient and credible" assurances that Abrego Garcia would not be harmed or removed from Liberia to another country where he could face persecution.

Abrego Garcia has been seeking to avoid deportation to an African country claiming fear of persecution or torture. Through his legal team, he said being sent across the Atlantic would be a form of retaliation and he should be sent to Costa Rica instead.

In October, a federal judge questioned DOJ lawyers for allegedly blocking his deportation to the Central American country.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis noted that Costa Rica has shown willingness to take Abrego Garcia and expressed her frustration at the fact that immigration official Jonathan Schultz kept talking about taking him elsewhere. Back then, the destination would be Eswatini.

Xinis, meanwhile, continues blocking the removal of Abrego Garcia while his criminal case on human smuggling charges continues in Tennessee. She's also weighing the possibility of releasing him from custody while the challenge to his detention continues. Abrego Garcia's lawyers said the government offered to send him to Costa Rica but only if he pleaded guilty to the Tennessee charges.