Liberia agrees to accept man at centre of US deportation row

Liberia is willing to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is deported from the United States, according to new documents filed in US federal court. Uganda, Ghana and Eswatini all previously refused to take him in.

The Salvadoran national's case has become a magnet for opposition to President Donald Trump's immigration policies since he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, in violation of a settlement agreement. He was returned to the US in June after the US Supreme Court said the administration had to work to bring him back. Since he cannot be re-deported to El Salvador, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Maryland has previously barred his immediate deportation. Abrego Garcia's lawsuit there claims the Trump administration is illegally using the deportation process to punish him for the embarrassment of his earlier mistaken deportation.

A Friday court filing from the Department of Homeland Security notes that "Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the United States's closest partners on the African continent." Its national language is English; its constitution "provides robust protections for human rights;" and Liberia is "committed to the humane treatment of refugees," the filing reads. It concludes that Abrego Garcia could be deported as soon as October 31.

'Cruel and unconstitutional'

"After failed attempts with Uganda, Eswatini, and Ghana, ICE now seeks to deport our client, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to Liberia, a country with which he has no connection, thousands of miles from his family and home in Maryland," a statement from attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg reads. "Costa Rica stands ready to accept him as a refugee, a viable and lawful option. Yet the government has chosen a course calculated to inflict maximum hardship. These actions are punitive, cruel, and unconstitutional."

Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the US illegally as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to El Salvador, where he faces a "well-founded fear" of violence from a gang that targeted his family, according to court filings. In a separate action in immigration court, Abrego Garcia has applied for asylum in the United States.

Abrego Garcia is also facing criminal charges in federal court in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling. He has filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming the prosecution is vindictive.