Greenbelt, Maryland– US government lawyers say they have cleared all hurdles necessary to send them Kelmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia They are asking a federal judge to resolve an order preventing his deportation.
Abrego Garcia Incorrect migration He was helped by his travel to his native El Salvador earlier this year Motivate the opposition For President Donald Trump Immigration policies. His lawyers claim the administration is now manipulating the immigration system to punish him for successfully challenging deportation.
A government filing in the US District Court in Maryland late Friday said officials had received assurances from Liberia that Abrego Garcia would not face persecution or torture there. Furthermore, she says an immigration officer heard Abrego Garcia’s claims that he feared deportation to the country West African countryRather, a ruling was against him.
Abrego Garcia has already identified Costa Rica as a country to which he wants to be extradited, his lawyers say in a separate filing on Friday. They claim the government should send him there now. A fact that officials continue to pursue Deportation to other countries They say this is evidence that the operation is retaliatory and violates due process protections.
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and two children He lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the United States illegally from El Salvador when he was a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to his home country, where he found he was at risk. But in March, it was He was deported to El Salvador In any case, the government lawyer later said it was an administrative error. Confrontation Pressure from the courtsThe administration returned him to the United States in June, but he has since returned to the United States Follow up on his deportation To a third country.
Many of Abrego Garcia’s arguments against his deportation to Liberia hinge on due process claims. The government is trying to refute these allegations, arguing that his rights to due process are not the same as those of an American citizen. They say that because he entered the country illegally, he should be treated like someone who has just crossed the border.
Meanwhile, his lawyers say that “aliens who have established relationships in this country” have greater due process rights than “an alien at the threshold of initial entry,” citing a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case.
As part of his due process rights, his lawyers also say he has the right to ask an immigration judge to review an immigration officer’s determination that Abrego Garcia is unlikely to face persecution or torture in Liberia. They say the officer should have taken into account the possibility that Liberia could deport Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador. They say the Liberian government agreed to accept him only on a temporary basis.
Government lawyers say they have assurances from Liberia that the Foreign Minister considers sufficient. They say the court cannot predict this conclusion because that would mean interfering in foreign diplomacy, which is the domain of executive power.
“This court must therefore set aside its initial order and allow the petitioner’s deportation to Liberia,” they say.
Separately, Abrego faces Garcia Accusations of human smuggling In federal court in Tennessee. I have He pleaded not guilty He asked the judge to do so Case dismissedThey claim that the charges are the result of “selective or retaliatory prosecution.” A Hearing This motion is scheduled for December 8.