The Trump administration has notified Kilmar Abrego Garcia – a Maryland resident currently in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody – that it is now planning to deport him to Eswatini, a small monarchy in southeast Africa, CNN reported on Friday.
“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… Nonetheless, we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini in Africa,” an email sent to Abrego Garcia by ICE on Friday read, per CNN.
Previously, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had indicated plans to send him to Uganda, However, Abrego Garcia had objected to the proposition, citing fears of persecution or torture.
An ICE official told CNN, “TRUE: An immigration judge ordered him removed and ICE will comply with that order.”
Legal Complications
Abrego Garcia was brought back to the US after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, where he was held in a notorious mega-prison CECOT. According to the report, he is currently facing human smuggling charges but is also fighting the administration’s renewed attempt to deport him before his trial is over.
A federal judge, meanwhile, has ruled that he cannot be deported before early October, when Trump administration officials are scheduled to testify about the deportation effort.
A Bid for Costa Rica, and Asylum
Abrego Garcia has expressed a preference to be sent to Costa Rica instead. Reports suggest the Central American country has indicated willingness to provide him legal status. His attorneys previously said the administration offered to deport him there if he entered a guilty plea, which he did not accept at the time.
He is also reportedly attempting to revive his asylum case, which will be reviewed by an immigration judge within the DOJ.
Why Eswatini?
Eswatini – formerly called Swaziland – is one of four African nations with agreements to receive deportees from the US. Ruled by an absolute monarch and about the size of New Jersey, it joins Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan in these arrangements.
