Listen to this articleWASHINGTON — The Trump administration is once again attempting to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, advocating for a federal judge to lift the hindrance that currently prevents his removal, as indicated by recent legal filings made over the weekend.
Residing in Maryland, Abrego Garcia has indicated his willingness to be deported to Costa Rica, which has agreed to accept him as a refugee, but he is contesting the efforts to send him to another country. Under current circumstances, the Trump administration is unable to return him to his native El Salvador, following a wrongful deportation to that country in 2025 that resulted in his incarceration in a harsh Salvadoran prison system.
This notable case has drawn national attention to the aggressive immigration enforcement strategies employed by the Trump administration.
In a statement made by Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons on Friday, he mentioned that he was dismissing Abrego Garcia’s request to be removed to Costa Rica for two primary reasons.
Firstly, Lyons argued that Abrego Garcia did not list Costa Rica as a third country for removal back in 2019, when he was granted a protective withholding from deportation to El Salvador. According to Lyons, this omission meant that Abrego Garcia “forfeited his right to designate an additional country of removal since he failed to specify any other location before his removal proceedings concluded.”
The second point made by Lyons is that the Trump administration has already engaged in significant political negotiations with the government of Liberia to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s removal. He cautioned that abandoning these diplomatic agreements could undermine the United States’ reliability with Liberia and other nations in ongoing and future negotiations.
Due to these factors, Lyons asserted that Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland should lift the existing injunction that prevents the Trump administration from proceeding with Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
Prior to this situation, third-country removals were relatively uncommon until the second Trump administration began relying more heavily on such measures as part of its strategy to carry out extensive deportations.
Abrego Garcia’s ordeal has been ongoing for several years. In 2019, he was granted withholding of removal after a judge determined that he would be at risk of gang violence if he were returned to El Salvador. As part of the agreement with ICE, he was required to check in annually.
However, in 2025, while he was picking up his son from daycare, ICE agents detained Abrego Garcia, informing him of a change in his immigration status. Subsequently, he was placed aboard a deportation flight with hundreds of other individuals to the notorious Salvadoran mega-prison known as CECOT.
Later that same year, the courts mandated Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
Currently, the Trump administration is requesting that Judge Xinis reach a decision by April 17. It is worth noting that Judge Xinis was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Ariana Figueroa covers the nation’s capital for States Newsroom.
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