GREENBELT, Md. (AP) – U.S. government lawyers say they have cleared all necessary hurdles to transfer money. Kilmer Abrego Garcia to Liberia He is asking a federal judge to revoke an order blocking his deportation.
Abrego Garcia’s mistakenly deported A trip to my home country of El Salvador earlier this year helped. energize the opposition to President Donald Trump immigration policy. His lawyers argue that the administration is now manipulating the immigration system to punish him for successfully challenging his deportation.
Officials received assurances from Liberia that Abrego-Garcia would not be subjected to persecution or torture there, according to a government complaint filed late Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Additionally, immigration officials say they have heard Abrego-Garcia claim that he fears deportation. country in west africabut ruled against him.
His lawyers argued in a separate filing Friday that Abrego-Garcia has already designated Costa Rica as a country from which he wishes to be deported. They argue that the government must now send him there. Facts that the authorities are continuing to pursue Forced return to another country This, they argue, is evidence that the process is retaliatory and violates due process protections.
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and children. lived in maryland Although he spent years there, he illegally immigrated to the United States from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge ruled he faced danger in his home country and granted him protection from deportation. However, in March he deported to El Salvador In any case, it is certain that government prosecutors later said it was an administrative error. face to face pressure from the courtthe administration brought him back to the United States in June, but since then pursue his deportation To a third country.
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Much of Mr. Abrego-Garcia’s argument against deportation to Liberia hinges on due process claims. The government is seeking to strike down those claims, arguing that his due process rights are not the same as the rights of U.S. citizens. They say he entered the country illegally and should be treated like anyone who crosses the border.
Meanwhile, his lawyers argue, citing a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case, that “an alien who has established connections in this country has greater due process rights than an alien who is at the threshold of initial entry.”
His lawyers also said that as part of his due process rights, Abrego-Garcia is entitled to have immigration judges consider their determination that Abrego-Garcia is unlikely to be persecuted or tortured in Liberia. They argue that officers should have taken into account the fact that Liberia might repatriate Abrego-Garcia to El Salvador. And the Liberian government only agreed to accept him temporarily.
Government lawyers say they have assurances from Liberia that the secretary of state will deem it sufficient. They argue that the court cannot accept that conclusion at face value because it would mean intervening in foreign affairs, which is the domain of the executive branch.
“Accordingly, this court should revoke the preliminary injunction and permit appellant’s transfer to Liberia,” they said.
Separately, Abrego Garcia will fight human smuggling In federal court in Tennessee. he has pleaded not guilty and asked the judge: dismiss the lawsuitalleges the charges are the result of “selective or retaliatory prosecution.” a hearing The motion is scheduled for Dec. 8.
