The Trump administration late Friday urged a federal judge in Maryland to allow immigration officials to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, asserting that the government has cleared the final legal hurdles to remove him from the United States.
Abrego Garcia's case has become a flashpoint in the national debate over President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, following his controversial deportation to El Salvador earlier this year in violation of a federal court order.
According to CBSNews, after being wrongfully deported in March despite a judge's ruling barring his removal, Abrego Garcia was detained for months in El Salvador, including at the country's notorious "mega-prison," CECOT. He was returned to the U.S. in June, only to face federal criminal charges for alleged human smuggling -- accusations he has denied.
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While his criminal trial has yet to begin, the administration has renewed its efforts to expel him, proposing his removal not only to Uganda and Eswatini, but most recently to Liberia.
On Friday, the Justice Department filed a motion asking U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis to lift an injunction she issued this summer blocking Abrego Garcia's deportation. The filing argues that "all legal avenues to contest his deportation have been exhausted."
According to the government, a U.S. asylum officer interviewed Abrego Garcia on October 28 and concluded that he failed to demonstrate a likelihood of persecution or torture in Liberia. "Petitioner's claims are procedurally barred multiple times over and fail on the merits," the Justice Department wrote. "This Court should therefore dissolve its preliminary injunction and permit the government to remove Petitioner to Liberia."
U.S. officials also submitted declarations asserting that Liberia has provided "sufficient and credible assurances" that Abrego Garcia will not be harmed or sent elsewhere.
Recently, the Government of Liberia announced its decision to receive Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on a strictly humanitarian and temporary basis. The decision follows a formal request from the Government of the United States of America and has already stirred both domestic and international debate.
In a statement signed and released by Jerolinmek Matthew Piah, Minister of Information, the Government said the move came after "extensive consultations with relevant national and international stakeholders," emphasizing that Liberia's action "reflects the nation's enduring commitment to upholding human dignity, international solidarity, and compassion in times of distress."
At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, also clarified that the Government of Liberia was under no diplomatic pressure to receive Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national temporarily relocated under a U.S. legal and diplomatic arrangement.
Minister Nyanti, who spoke at a special press briefing on October 24, 2025, at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), flanked by the Ministers of Justice and Information--said the decision to receive Mr. Garcia was made after formal diplomatic consultations and thorough review between Monrovia and Washington.
"The Government of Liberia was approached through formal diplomatic channels with a specific request regarding Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. After careful consideration and assessment, and following diplomatic assurances from U.S. authorities regarding his treatment and status, Liberia agreed to receive Mr. Garcia," the Foreign Minister said.
Minister Nyanti stressed that the decision was made in line with Liberia's commitment to international law, humanitarian principles, and its bilateral relationship with the United States--not because of external pressure.
"Let me be clear--there was no diplomatic pressure placed upon Liberia to receive Mr. Garcia. Our decision was guided by diplomacy, humanity, and respect for lawful international processes," she added.
She added that the arrangement was consistent with Liberia's long-standing tradition of international cooperation and its responsibility as a member of the global community, especially as the nation assumes its new role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
"Liberia remains a responsible member of the international community and continues to act in good faith in its bilateral and multilateral engagements," she said.
However, Abrego Garcia's attorneys strongly dispute the government's position. In their response filed the same day, they argued that the single interview by an asylum officer did not satisfy due process requirements.
"The Government insists that the unreasoned determination of a single immigration officer--who concluded that Abrego Garcia failed to establish that it is 'more likely than not' that he will be persecuted or tortured in Liberia--satisfies due process. It does not," they wrote.
The defense also accused the Trump administration of retaliation, claiming officials sought to deport their client to Africa instead of Costa Rica -- a country that has already offered him refugee status -- because he refused to plead guilty to the human smuggling charges.
"The timeline suggests a pattern: when the Government received orders it disliked in Abrego Garcia's civil case, it initiated a criminal prosecution in retaliation; and when it received orders it disliked in his criminal case, it initiated third-country removal efforts in retaliation," the attorneys said.
They have asked Judge Xinis to bar any deportation to Liberia "unless and until an immigration judge concurs" with the asylum officer's finding, emphasizing that their client could still face indirect return to El Salvador.
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Abrego Garcia, now in his early 30s, first arrived in the United States in 2011 at age 16 after entering illegally. He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2019 following a police encounter outside a Home Depot in Maryland, where he was reportedly seeking work.
At the time, an immigration judge denied him bond, citing alleged gang affiliations based on information from a government informant -- claims Abrego Garcia has consistently denied. Later that year, another immigration judge granted him "withholding of removal," finding that deporting him to El Salvador could expose him to gang-related violence.
Despite that protection, Abrego Garcia remained under a standing deportation order for illegal entry. He was again arrested earlier this year and deported in March as part of a highly publicized ICE operation that sent hundreds of Venezuelan and Salvadoran men accused of gang ties to El Salvador's CECOT prison.
The administration later conceded in court that his deportation had been a "mistake," but Abrego Garcia remained imprisoned abroad for several months before being brought back to the U.S.
After a Tennessee judge ordered his release from pre-trial detention this summer, he briefly reunited with his U.S. citizen wife and child in Maryland. That freedom lasted only a few days -- by late August, during a routine check-in at ICE's Baltimore field office, he was taken back into custody, where he remains as his fate once again lies in the hands of the court.
