US government attorneys told a federal judge on Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security still intends to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Liberia, despite a new agreement with Costa Rica to accept deportees who cannot legally be returned to their home countries.
Ábrego García, who was born in El Salvador, has been challenging efforts to remove him to a series of so-called third countries after what his supporters describe as a mistaken deportation last year.
The case has drawn wide attention in the broader immigration debate, in part because of the circumstances of his earlier removal to El Salvador. Since being brought back, he has faced a separate push by homeland security officials to deport him again, this time to countries in Africa.
The Tuesday filing in federal court suggests that the new Costa Rica arrangement will not change the government’s immediate position in his case. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security appears to be continuing its attempt to send him to Liberia.
Ábrego García’s fight against removal has made him a central figure in an immigration dispute that has unfolded over multiple deportation efforts and competing government plans. The latest development adds another layer to a case that has already moved across countries and legal proceedings.
It remains unclear how the Costa Rica agreement may affect other deportation cases involving people who cannot be sent back to their countries of origin. But in Ábrego García’s case, the government told the court that Liberia remains its intended destination.
The case continues to highlight the legal and political tensions surrounding deportation to third countries, especially when the person involved has already been wrongfully removed once before.
