In the letter informing Kilmar Abrego Garcia that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) planned to deport him to the Eswatini, a landlocked country in southern Africa, the agency said the alleged human smuggler has now claimed to “fear persecution or torture” in nearly two dozen nations.
The letter revealed Abrego Garcia’s list of nations where he claimed to fear deportation includes Costa Rica, where he previously indicated he would prefer to be deported.
First posted to the social media platform X by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, the Friday letter informed Abrego Garcia that the federal government continues to seek his removal from the country in accordance with his 2019 final deportation order, and acknowledges his purported fears over being deported to Uganda, where ICE sought to remove him last month.
“That claim of fear is hard to take seriously especially given that you have claimed that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries,” an ICE official wrote in the letter to Abrego Garcia.
It revealed Abrego Garcia said he fears persecution or torture in El Salvador, Uganda, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.
BREAKING: @FoxNews has obtained an email ICE sent to Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers this afternoon notifying them that ICE now plans to deport him to the tiny African country of ESWATINI due to him claiming fear of persecution/torture in Uganda & 20+ other countries, which ICE… pic.twitter.com/qpPiE6ZeyB
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 5, 2025
Notably, Abrego Garcia’s claim to fear persecution or torture in Costa Rica comes after his attorney said he could agree to being deported to the Central American nation “tomorrow,” in remarks made following the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) plea deal in his federal human smuggling case that would have seen Abrego Garcia deported to Costa Rica at the conclusion of any sentence imposed by the court.
“There’s already an offer on the table from Costa Rica for refugee status in that country, and a guarantee that Costa Rica will not deport him on to El Salvador,” his immigration attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said last month. “If they want to get him out as quickly as possible, we could work that out tomorrow.”
A letter from Costa Rica’s government to the U.S. Embassy in that nation specifically said that Abrego Garcia would be granted residency or refugee status, and would be precluded from further removal to his homeland after arriving in Costa Rica.
After his criminal defense attorneys submitted this letter to the court, Abrego Garcia’s immigration attorneys submitted a filing in his new immigration lawsuit that designated Costa Rica as his preferred destination for deportation.
Abrego Garcia’s criminal defense attorneys did not respond to a previous comment request from The Tennessee Star about whether their client personally reviewed and declined the plea deal.
The criminal case against Abrego Garcia stems from his November 2022 traffic stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), which was first reported by The Star in April. A spokesman for THP later told The Star that troopers were instructed to release Abrego Garcia by the “Biden-era FBI.” A document released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed troopers suspected human trafficking.
Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March, but President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador agreed to his return in June, when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment accusing him of participating in a human smuggling ring for nearly a decade.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the case against Abrego Garcia is scheduled to reach trial in January 2026.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Hey, I’m sure Putin would love another soldier
It seems Garcia has fear of prosecution to any other place but Maryland. Of course, he had no fear when trafficking in Tennessee. He is a gang banger, a felon, an illegal alien, and should be deported on the first airplane. Enough of this nonsense, enough of his running up expenses for the American people. While lefties might be contributing to his defense, it is the taxpayer funding the court, court officers and court personnel.
What a POS. The poor criminal is afraid he will get picked on in prison. What about all of the people you prayed upon and your wife/girl friend you assaulted? What about their feelings.
This gang member should have no say as to where he’s being sent. Maybe we can make a deal with President Putin to have these criminals sent to Siberia.