Trump administration plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Eswatini

CNN The Trump administration informed Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday that it now plans to deport him to the tiny African nation of Eswatini as he continues to fight efforts to re-deport him In an email to the Maryland man which was obtained by CNN an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official commented that given Abrego Garcia s concerns about being deported to several other countries they now seek to remove him to Eswatini The Department of Homeland Guard previously notified Abrego Garcia of plans to deport him to Uganda but he objected to the removal citing fears of being persecuted or tortured That claim of fear is hard to take seriously especially given that you have claimed through your attorneys that you fear persecution or torture in at least different countries read the email which listed the countries including his home country of El Salvador where he spent weeks in a notorious mega prison earlier this year after he was mistakenly deported Nonetheless we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini Africa the email added An ICE official certified that Abrego Garcia will be deported to Eswatini telling CNN TRUE An immigration judge ordered him removed and ICE will comply with that order Abrego Garcia is at the moment in ICE custody after being brought back to the US to face human smuggling charges but the Trump administration is trying to swiftly deport him again even before the trial concludes Last week the federal judge overseeing Abrego Garcia s occurrence ruled that he cannot be deported until at least early October after Trump administration bureaucrats are expected to testify about the cabinet s efforts to re-deport him Abrego Garcia has declared he prefers to be sent to Costa Rica a country that has revealed it would be willing to give him specific form of legal status should he be sent there The administration previously offered to eventually deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea his lawyers recounted the judge overseeing his human trafficking development last month However Abrego Garcia did not accept the offer according to a source familiar with his scenario Eswatini formerly known as Swaziland is located in Southeast Africa and is roughly the size of New Jersey Governed by a monarch who has absolute power Eswatini is one of four African countries that have struck a deal with the Trump administration to receive foreign deportees along with Rwanda South Sudan and Uganda Abrego Garcia is also separately seeking to renew his bid for asylum a process that will play out before an immigration judge within the Justice Department CNN s Devan Cole contributed to this assessment