Washington D.C. – The Trump administration has informed Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia that he is now set to be deported to Eswatini, despite ongoing legal battles in the United States over his removal.
Abrego Garcia, who is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Maryland, received the notice on Friday through an email seen by CNN. The message stated that the new country of removal is Eswatini, following his objections to being sent to Uganda or several other nations where he claims he fears persecution.
The Department of Homeland Security had earlier identified Uganda as his destination, but Abrego Garcia resisted, arguing that his life would be at risk. According to ICE officials, he has raised similar fears about at least 22 countries, including his native El Salvador, where he was mistakenly deported earlier this year and held for weeks in a maximum-security prison.
Despite those claims, an ICE spokesperson confirmed that Eswatini has been selected as the next destination. “An immigration judge ordered him removed and ICE will comply with that order,” the official said.
Abrego Garcia was returned to the US to face human smuggling charges, but the administration is pushing to deport him before the trial concludes. A federal judge ruled last week that his removal cannot proceed until at least early October, when government officials are expected to testify about the handling of his case.
The 39-year-old has expressed a preference to be sent to Costa Rica, which has signaled willingness to offer him legal status. His lawyers told the court that the US government once offered to facilitate his transfer to Costa Rica in exchange for a guilty plea, but he refused the deal.
Eswatini is one of four African nations that entered into an agreement with the Trump administration to accept foreign deportees, alongside Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.
Abrego Garcia is also renewing his asylum application, which will be considered by a judge within the US Justice Department.
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