GREENBELT, Md. – Attorneys representing the U.S. government have announced they have successfully navigated the obstacles necessary to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to Liberia. They are now requesting that a federal judge lift the order that is currently preventing this action.

Earlier this year, Abrego Garcia’s erroneous deportation to his native El Salvador became a focal point for critics of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. His legal team argues that the current administration is exploiting the immigration system as a means of retaliating against him for contesting that deportation successfully.

In a motion filed late Friday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, the government claims it has received confirmations from Liberia ensuring that Abrego Garcia will not be subject to persecution or torture. Additionally, an immigration official reportedly reviewed Abrego Garcia’s concerns about deportation to Liberia but dismissed his claims.

Conversely, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers submitted a filing on the same day stating that he has already expressed a preference for deportation to Costa Rica. They contend that this designation obligates the government to comply. The ongoing efforts to deport him to an alternative nation, they assert, are retaliatory and infringe upon his due process rights.

Abrego Garcia, who has resided in Maryland for several years, is married to an American woman and has a child with her. He originally entered the United States illegally from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge determined he should not be deported back to El Salvador due to potential threats to his safety. Nonetheless, he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, a move later attributed to an administrative error. Following judicial pressure, he was returned to the U.S. in June, yet the government has since pursued his deportation to another country.

Much of Abrego Garcia’s argument against his deportation to Liberia hinges on due process claims. The government tries to tear down those claims, arguing that his due process rights are not the same as a U.S. citizen’s. Because he entered the country illegally, he should be treated the same as someone who just crossed the border, they argue.

Meanwhile, his attorneys argue that “’aliens who have established connections 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 attorneys also say he is entitled to have an immigration judge review the immigration officer’s determination that Abrego Garcia is unlikely to be persecuted or tortured in Liberia. They argue the officer should have considered the fact that Liberia could re-deport Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. And they say the Liberian government has only agreed to accept him on a temporary basis.

Government attorneys say they have assurances from Liberia that the Secretary of State deems sufficient. The court cannot second-guess that conclusion because that would mean intervening in foreign diplomacy, the domain of the executive branch, they argue.

“This Court should therefore dissolve its preliminary injunction and permit Petitioner to be removed to Liberia,” they state.

Separately, Abrego Garcia faces human smuggling charges in federal court in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to dismiss the case, claiming the charges are the result of “selective or vindictive prosecution.” A hearing on that motion is set for December 8.