Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, was told by immigration officials on Friday that they plan to deport him again, but this time to the small African country of Eswatini.
Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S. in June, but was then charged with human smuggling and now faces removal again. He surrendered to officials in Maryland last month, and the Trump administration said it would deport him to Uganda. His lawyers argued that he would face persecution and torture in Uganda, and said he wants to seek asylum in the U.S.
However, in an email obtained by multiple news outlets, including CBS, CNN and Fox News, the Department of Homeland Security told Abrego Garcia on Friday that his “claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries.”
The notice then included a bulleted list of 22 countries.
It concluded, “Nonetheless, we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa.”
