The Trump administration’s efforts to deport Abrego-Garcia to the West African country have been denounced by his lawyers.
Published October 27, 2025
A U.S. federal judge has sought assurances from President Donald Trump’s administration that authorities will not deport Kilmer Abrego Garcia while an injunction barring his deportation continues.
District Judge Paula Kishinis’ request on Monday came after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week filed a notice of plans to deport Abrego-Garcia to the West African nation of Liberia.
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She asked why the government didn’t deport Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man living in the United States, to Costa Rica instead. He said he was motivated to go to Costa Rica because the local government welcomed him as a legal immigrant and promised not to deport him back to El Salvador.
“Do you have any insight as to why we are continuing this trial when we could potentially deport him to a third country tomorrow?” Sinis asked government lawyers.
Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March by the Trump administration in violation of a 2019 court order barring her from being returned to her home country.
He returned to the United States in June by order of a judge, but was promptly charged with human smuggling in Tennessee. He is asking for the case to be dismissed.
Administration officials have repeatedly accused Abrego-Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang, but this claim has not been proven in court.
Abrego García’s lawyer said he was the target of political retaliation.
In response to the plan to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia, lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg called the move “cruel and unconstitutional.” He said Abrego-Garcia has no ties to the country.
The Trump administration has repeatedly called for individuals who cannot be returned to their home countries to be deported to so-called third countries. Advocacy groups say deportations violate due process rights and migrants are being sent to countries with a long history of human rights abuses.
Abrego-Garcia has separately applied for asylum in the United States.
