ICE changes plans for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had previously claimed fear of persecution in at least 22 different countries.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was notified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday that he will be deported to Eswatini, Africa.
The decision to deport Abrego Garcia to Eswatini follows a period of legal and administrative delays. An Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge, Paula Xinis, had previously ordered on Aug. 26 that Abrego Garcia remain in the U.S. until an evidentiary hearing could be held.
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The Trump administration’s initial plan to deport him to Uganda was challenged by Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, who claimed their client feared “persecution or torture” in that country. An email from ICE, first obtained by Fox News, revealed the agency’s decision to change the deportation location.
The email stated that Abrego Garcia had “claimed (through his attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries.” These countries, listed in the email, include El Salvador, Uganda, Mexico, and numerous others across Central and South America. The email concluded by notifying him that his “new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa.”
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Abrego Garcia was previously deported to El Salvador’s maximum-security prison by the Trump administration.
However, Democrats rallied to his support, leading to his return to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges. He was released from a Tennessee prison on Aug. 22 but was taken into federal immigration custody on Aug. 25, with the administration seeking to deport him to Africa or Central America.
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Judge Xinis temporarily halted this deportation on the same day, stating that federal officials were “absolutely forbidden at this juncture to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the continental United States.” According to Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, the Trump administration had given him the option of pleading guilty to the smuggling charges and being deported to Costa Rica, or facing deportation to Uganda.
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