The Trump administration is renewing efforts to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly sent to El Salvador, and is still seeking to relocate him to Eswatini or Ghana despite both nations rejecting the plan, an immigration official told a judge Friday.
Abrego Garcia and his legal team are fighting the deportation efforts after a prior order barred his return to El Salvador. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now plans to send him to Eswatini, a move he is contesting.
The case has become a flashpoint in the partisan battle over President Trump’s broad immigration and deportation policies. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland will decide whether Abrego Garcia remains in detention or is released during his appeal, and has ordered officials to detail their efforts to deport him to another country.
An ICE official told the judge on Friday that talks with Eswatini continue, despite the country rejecting Abrego Garcia’s deportation, and confirmed that the administration is also in discussions with Ghana.
However, Ghana’s foreign minister said Friday the country will not accept Abrego Garcia. ICE official John Schultz told the court Garcia could be deported within 72 hours if a third country agrees and the judge approves.
“We could quickly operationalize the removal,” Schultz said.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argue the Republican administration is unlawfully using the immigration system to retaliate after its mistaken deportation blunder.
Attorneys in Tennessee have similarly argued that the human smuggling charges filed against Abrego Garcia in June, the day he was returned from El Salvador, are retaliatory. A state judge agreed the case may be illegal retribution for his prior lawsuit against the Trump administration. The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop that wasn’t investigated until after his wife filed the suit.
At a Nashville hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw set a Nov. 3 hearing on a motion to dismiss the charges, while defense attorneys plan to seek removal of unrelated statements from the indictment.
Attorney Jenna Dabbs argued that references to her client’s alleged MS-13 ties are irrelevant to the charges. She noted that Trump administration officials have repeatedly labeled Abrego Garcia a gang member despite no criminal convictions.
