The immigration attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in his immigration lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday notified the court that their client expressed fear of persecution or torture if deported to Liberia, making the West African nation the 24th country where Abrego Garcia has voiced such concerns.
Liberia was publicly identified as the newest destination to deport Abrego Garcia on Friday, when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) notified Obama-appointed District Court Judge Paula Xinis that the African nation’s government had agreed to accept the alleged human smuggler, and made a series of assurances regarding how it treats refugees and non-citizens.
In their filing, Abrego Garica’s attorneys claim the court should disregard the news about Liberia when determining whether their client should be released from federal custody, but additionally notified Xinis that Abrego Garcia filed notice of his fears regarding the country.
“Even if the court were to consider the Government’s notice – which it should not given that the record is closed – Liberia does not constitute a viable removal destination,” Abrego Garcia’s attorneys claimed. “Shortly after the Government notified Petitioner’s counsel of its intent to remove him to Liberia, Petitioner expressed fear of removal to that country and requested a reasonable fear interview.”
Abrego Garcia must now go before a federal immigration judge, who will make a final determination regarding the veracity of Abrego Garcia’s claims, before he can be deported to Liberia.
A September letter from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Abrego Garcia noted that Eswatini, a landlocked African nation where the government previously sought to deport the alleged human smuggler, was selected after he expressed fear of persecution or torture in 22 nations.
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
He has since expressed fear of persecution or torture in Eswatini, which brought the total to 23. With the inclusion of Liberia, Abrego Garcia has now submitted claims he fears persecution or torture in 24 different countries.
Notably, he has included Costa Rica among his claims, despite the U.S. State Department previously obtained diplomatic assurances as part of a plea deal that was negotiated by his criminal defense attorneys earlier this year.
While Abrego Garcia and his criminal defense attorneys ultimately rejected the plea deal after more than a month of negotiations with the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, his immigration attorneys have repeatedly claimed their client would consent to being deported to the Central American nation, including in the Friday filing, when they appeared to suggest Costa Rica was the only country where he could be legally deported.
“Petitioner has timely designated Costa Rica; Costa Rica has agreed to accept him, and the Attorney General has not so much as proffered a reason that removal to Costa Rica would prejudice the United States,” his attorneys wrote, after citing 8 U.S. C. 1231, which notes that an illegal immigrant may designate a preferred nation for removal if they cannot be returned to their home country.
The final order of removal issued for Abrego Garcia in 2019 contained a withholding of removal for Guatemala, but Abrego Garcia has successfully claimed that the order applied to El Salvador, prompting the U.S. Supreme Court to order the Trump administration to facilitate his return following Abrego Garcia’s March deportation to his home country.
Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States in June, when Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment accusing him of spending nearly a decade in a human smuggling ring. He has pleaded not guilty, and the case is scheduled to reach trial in January.
The criminal case against Abrego Garcia stems from his November 30, 2022 traffic stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), which The Tennessee Star reported in April. A DHS document shows troopers suspected human trafficking, and a spokesman for THP told The Star that Abrego Garcia was released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI.”
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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].
Photo “Liberia Capitol” by David Stanley CC3.0.
WHEREEVER he is proposed to be sent to, that is where he will fear going. He will keep trying something else until people stop paying for this never ending defense against the indefensible.
My heart is breaking. Get this criminal a$$clown out of my country.