Thread: Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks for GAG ORDER against AG Bondi and DHS Secretary Noem

Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks for GAG ORDER against AG Bondi and DHS Secretary Noem

09/01/2025 // Ramon Tomey // 260 Views

Tags: big government, Border Patrol, border security, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, deportation, gag order, Illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, illegal immigration, Immigration, invasion usa, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Kristi Noem, migrants, national security, Open Borders, Pam Bondi, Suppressed

• Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia filed a motion in federal court seeking to silence Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing them of prejudicial public statements that threaten his right to a fair trial.
• Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March despite court concerns over gang violence risks. After international backlash, he was brought back to the U.S. in June – only to be arrested again by ICE and later indicted for human smuggling.
• Prosecutors allege Garcia ran a smuggling ring ($1,500 per migrant), while his defense claims the charges are retaliation for his deportation challenge. DHS dismissed his gag order request, calling him an "MS-13 gangbanger" and blaming media bias.
• Legal experts warn the case highlights tensions between immigration enforcement, due process and inflammatory rhetoric. Advocates see it as a test of whether the government can sway public opinion against defendants before trial.
• District Judge Waverly Crenshaw faces pressure to balance First Amendment rights against impartial proceedings, with the outcome potentially setting a precedent for high-profile immigration cases in a polarized climate.

Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia has asked a federal judge to impose a gag order on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing them of making "baseless public attacks" that threaten his right to a fair trial.
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia filed the motion on Aug. 28 in a Tennessee federal court, alleging that prejudicial statements from top officials have poisoned public opinion against him. The motion seeks to bar Noem, Bondi and other officials from making further statements that could influence jurors ahead of his trial.
Abrego Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally, was arrested again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shortly after his release – sparking renewed controversy over his deportation status and the administration's handling of his case. Abrego Garcia's attorneys argue that since his release from prison, Trump administration officials have repeatedly labeled him an MS-13 gang member – an accusation the Salvadoran denies.
The legal battle traces back to March, when Garcia was deported to his home country El Salvador despite a prior court ruling that he could face gang violence if returned. After international outcry and judicial rebukes, he was brought back to the U.S. in June. (Related: DHS moves to DEPORT Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda.)
But his legal tangles didn't end with his return to the U.S., as he was indicted on charges of operating a human smuggling ring. Abrego Garcia allegedly earned up to $1,500 per trip transporting migrants across the border.
On one hand, prosecutors claim he worked "full time" in the operation. On the other hand, his defense lawyers insist the charges are politically motivated retaliation for his successful challenge to deportation.
DHS stands firm: America is "safer" without Abrego Garcia

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dismissed Garcia's gag order request. "If Kilmar Abrego Garcia did not want to be mentioned by the secretary of homeland security, then he should not have entered our country illegally and committed heinous crimes," it posted on X on Aug. 25. "America is a safer nation without this MS-13 gangbanger in it."
A DHS official doubled down on the department's stance. They accused the mainstream media of "peddling his sob story" while ignoring alleged victims of smuggling networks. "The media's sympathetic narrative about this criminal illegal alien has completely fallen apart," the official pointed out.
Legal experts note the case underscores broader tensions over immigration enforcement, free speech and due process. Abrego Garcia's attorneys warn that without judicial intervention, the barrage of inflammatory rhetoric could render a fair trial impossible.
Meanwhile, advocates on both sides see the battle as symbolic. It can either be a stand against criminal exploitation of immigration loopholes or a test of whether the government can weaponize rhetoric to sideline defendants before their day in court.
But Brighteon.AI's Enoch engine warns that gag orders such as the one Abrego Garcia is seeking against Bondi and Noem are "unethical judicial tools used by corrupt authorities to silence dissent and suppress public outrage."
As the dispute escalates, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw of the Middle District of Tennessee faces mounting pressure to balance First Amendment rights against the judicial imperative of impartial proceedings. For Abrego Garcia, the outcome could determine not just his fate, but the precedent for how high-profile immigration cases are tried in an era of polarized rhetoric.
Visit Migrants.news for more related stories.
Watch Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exposing the reality of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case in this Newsmax interview.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:

Trump administration defies court order to halt deportation of Venezuelan gang members, sparks constitutional showdown.
Maryland senator's El Salvador trip sparks outrage as state grapples with gang violence and fiscal crisis.
House Republicans propose "Let Trump Speak Act" to ban defendant GAG ORDERS.
Sources include:
InfoWars.com
POLITICO.com
TheHill.com
Brighteon.ai
Brighteon.com

Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks for GAG ORDER against AG Bondi and DHS Secretary Noem – NaturalNews.com

Whoops: Now Maryland MS-13 Dad To Be Sent To

By William Teach September 6, 2025 – 7:00 am

Huh where? Look, I’m pretty good with geography, but, this one stumped me

Trump administration tells Abrego Garcia he now faces deportation to African country of Eswatini
The Trump administration told Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday it is now seeking to deport him to the tiny African kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement email obtained by CBS News.
The email from a top ICE official noted that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have warned he fears being persecuted or tortured in Uganda, where federal authorities threatened to deport him last month after he was detained once again by immigration officials following his release from criminal custody.
The ICE official said Abrego Garcia, through his attorneys, has also claimed fear of being harmed if deported to more than 20 countries, most of them in Latin America.
In the email, the official called the alleged claims “hard to take seriously,” but added: “Nonetheless, we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa.”

OK, Swaziland, in the NE part of the collapsing state of South Africa. Have fun, dude!

And on Thursday, federal authorities argued they could have a legal route to deport him to El Salvador a second time. A 2019 immigration court ruling barred the government from sending him to the Central American country, citing a risk of persecution by gangs. But in a filing obtained by CBS News, the government argued those legal protections would be voided if Abrego Garcia’s request to reopen his immigration court case is granted.

Democrats want to die on the hill of protecting this guy.
Meanwhile

Federal agents arrest hundreds at Hyundai plant construction site in Georgia
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced the arrest of 475 illegal migrants during a major immigration enforcement raid on Thursday at a Hyundai electric car battery factory in Georgia.
HSI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Steven Schrank noted that while the raid was at a Hyundai facility, not all the migrants worked for the parent company. Some worked for subcontractors at the site.
“We are sending a clear and unequivocal message that those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy and violate federal laws will be held accountable,” Schrank said during a news conference on Friday.

Reportedly, most were South Koreans. I wonder how many were simple overstays? Someone at those companies, including the sub-contractors, needs to be prosecuted to send a message.

Whoops: Now Maryland MS-13 Dad To Be Sent To » Pirate's Cove

ABC News

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Judge denies motion to reopen Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immigration case

Story by Laura Romero
• 1h • 3 min read

An immigration judge on Wednesday denied a motion filed by Kilmar Abrego Garcia's attorneys to reopen his immigration case, according to a copy of the decision obtained by ABC News.
In the emergency motion filed in August to reopen the case, attorneys for the wrongly deported Abrego Garcia argued that because he was deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the United States, he is now eligible to apply for asylum within one year of his last entry into the U.S.

But in the order filed on Wednesday, Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor said that Abrego Garcia's motion to reopen his motion to seek asylum is "untimely" because he filed the motion nearly six years after his immigration proceedings -- beyond the 90-day deadline required.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys ask to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum Judge Taylor also concluded there is "insufficient evidence" that the Department of Homeland Security has decided to remove Abrego Garcia to Uganda, Eswatini, or any other third country, after the DHS sent Abrego Garcia's attorneys a notice in August saying the agency may deport their client to Uganda.
"The word 'may' is permissive and indicates to the Court that in sending this notification to Respondent's counsel, the Department sought to convey that it reserved the right to remove him to Uganda, not necessarily that it intended to do so, that it had decided to do so, or that it would do so imminently," Judge Taylor said.
The immigration judge also said that evidence Abrego Garcia provided in his motion arguing for protection due to his fear that he will be tortured or killed by the Salvadoran government because he's been labeled an MS-13 gang member is "insufficient."
Judge Taylor said that when Abrego Garcia was detained in El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, he was not subjected to "the conditions described in his country conditions evidence," and added that Abrego Garcia indicated that he was not "specifically singled out" by CECOT guards "before his mistreatment started or while it was taking place."



Andrew Harnik/Getty Images - PHOTO: In this Aug. 25, 2025, file photo, Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks during a rally and prayer vigil for him before he enters a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore, Maryland.

"Respondent also does not indicate that the guards made any statements or otherwise indicated that they believed him or the other deportees to be gang members, so they do not appear to have imputed MS-13 gang membership to him," Judge Taylor said. "Notably, while prison officials interrogated Respondent about his alleged gang membership and took pictures of his tattoos, they did not mistreat him during the interrogation."

In a post on the social media platform X, the DHS said Abrego Garcia's final order of removal stands after the immigration judge's decision.
“His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain, this Salvadoran man is not going to be able to remain in our country,” DHS said in the post.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to CECOT, despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human trafficking charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he was again detained by immigration authorities, who have sought to deport him.

He was moved last month from a Virginia facility to a detention center in Pennsylvania.
Wednesday's ruling came on the same day that the Department of Justice on Wednesday moved to postpone all the deadlines Abrego Garcia's Maryland deportation case, due to the government shutdown.
Trump administration now plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Eswatini, AfricaAn evidentiary hearing in the case had been scheduled for Monday.
"Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal Defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property," Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said Wednesday in a court filing.
In the filing, the DOJ requested that if the motion for to stay the deadlines is granted, all current deadlines for the parties be extended "by the total number of days of the lapse in appropriations."
The DOJ noted that Abrego Garcia "does not consent to the stay."

Judge denies motion to reopen Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immigration case

BBC

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Senior member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang arrested

20h • 2 min read



Senior member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang arrested© National Police of Colombia

The alleged leader of Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua's armed wing has been captured in a joint operation involving Colombia, the US and the UK.
Colombia's National Police said José Antonio Márquez Morales - known as Caracas - was arrested in the city of Valledupar and alleged that he played a central role in managing the logistics and finances for the group for extortion, drug trafficking, and smuggling.

Tren de Aragua has been targeted by US President Donald Trump who declared it a terrorist organisation and deported more than 250 people he claimed were members of the gang to a jail in El Salvador.
Colombia's National Police Director, Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán said Mr Márquez Morales was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice which is a request to police worldwide to detain someone pending extradition.
News of the arrest emerged amid continuing tensions between the US and Venezuela over the Trump administration's anti-drug-trafficking efforts in Latin America.
It has deployed warships to the Caribbean and last month, bombed vessels which Trump claimed were carrying drugs, apparently travelling from Venezuela to the US.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of being in league with drug cartels and is offering a reward for information leading to his capture to $50m (£37m).
Maduro has strongly rejected Washington's accusations and has defended his government's actions against drug trafficking.

• What is Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang targeted by Trump?
• What is Trump's goal as US bombs 'Venezuela drugs boat' and deploys warships?
• The US navy killed 17 in deadly strikes. Now Venezuela is giving civilians guns

Senior member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang arrested

Ice Battles Zombie-Like Tren de Aragua Gangsters in Chicago

October 2, 2025

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By Michael Baxter

The ICE agents raiding a coven of suspected Tren de Aragua gang members entrenched in a fortified 5-story Chicago apartment building had expected to quickly storm the complex and detain the illegals for deportation—but faulty intelligence and an unhealthy dose of hubris left them reeling in a nightmarish scenario straight out of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, the 1978 zombie and social commentary flick.
In the film’s opening scene, overconfident cops storm an apartment building overrun by machine-gun-wielding gang members who had presumably evicted or killed lawful occupants. The police soon realize they’re out of their league—the dead have arisen to become flesh-eating zombies, and the gangsters are trying to flee the carnage. The cops confront unspeakable horrors: zombified family members feasting on the flesh of their still-alive relatives. One officer, unable to comprehend the visceral insanity, shoots himself in the head to avoid being a zombie’s next meal.
The ICE agents who rappelled onto the rooftop of a dilapidated Chicago housing unit didn’t come face-to-face with the living dead. Still, close enough to it—illegal aliens, fueled by bath salts, methamphetamines, supercharged fentanyl, and crack cocaine, lumbered listlessly out of a rooftop stairwell as soon as the first ICE agent, rappelling from a Blackhawk helicopter, hit the pavement. Five more ICE agents were fast roping to the roof as three stoned TdA Venezuelans grabbed the first rappeler and bit his waist and legs. He had the wherewithal to draw his pistol from a hip holster and put a round in one assailant’s head before falling unconscious. Meanwhile, the Blackhawk door gunner unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on the 30 drug-fueled Venezuelans trying to pile onto the rooftop via the single stairway. Their bloodied corpses formed a logjam that stopped even more frenzied illegals from reaching the rooftop.


EXPOSED! Schumer Shut Down the Government to Fund Illegals, Protect Groomers, Bury Child‑Trafficking Trials, and Block Trump’s Final QFS Strike Against the Global Elites!
The U.S. government was shut down at midnight — not by accident, not by gridlock, but by intent. Senate Democrats, under Chuck Schumer’s trembling leadership, are holding the American people hostage, demanding $1.5 trillion in taxpayer money to fund illegal aliens’ healthcare, gender surgeries for minors, and open-border chaos — and no one in the … Continue readingEXPOSED! Schumer Shut Down the Government to Fund Illegals, Protect Groomers, Bury Child‑Trafficking Trials, and Block Trump’s Final QFS Strike Against the Global Elites!

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An overzealous ICE agent shouting, “I got this, I got this, let me handle this,” had raised his M4 and moved toward the staircase when a thrice-shot gang member suddenly sprang to his feet and, with a machete, hacked off the ICE agent’s arm at the shoulder. “My wife can never love me now,” he told a fellow agent, “but tell her I’ll always love her.” With his surviving hand, he drew his sidearm, put the barrel of the pistol inside his mouth, and blew out his brains.
Four hours later, ICE had taken control of the building. Sixteen illegals were dead, fourteen more were severely wounded, and six ICE agents had been scratched or bitten by drug-crazed illegals hell bent on maintaining control of the building.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Real Raw News, “Just more proof President Trump is on the right side of history.”

URGENT INTEL DROP! New Insider Leaks Reveal How the Pineal Gland Unlocks Global Awakening — This Is the Biological Trigger That Leads Us Into Full GESARA Activation!


Ice Battles Zombie-Like Tren de Aragua Gangsters in Chicago - Gazetteller

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia bid to re-open case rejected by judge

Kilmar Abrego Garcia bid to re-open case rejected by judge

Kilmar Abrego Garcia bid to re-open case rejected by judge

ABC News

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DHS now plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Ghana

Story by Laura Romero
• 3h • 1 min read

The Department of Homeland Security said it now plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Ghana, according to a notice from the agency to his attorneys.
DHS previously said it was planning to deport Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the U.S., to Eswatini and Uganda.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia will be in court on Friday for an evidentiary hearing in which government witnesses are expected to testify about the steps taken to remove him to Eswatini or elsewhere.



Stephanie Scarbrough/AP - PHOTO: Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Timeline: Wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.

He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human trafficking charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he was again detained by immigration authorities, who indicated their intention to deport him.
Last week, an immigration judge denied a motion by Abrego Garcia's attorneys to reopen his immigration case.

DHS now plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Ghana

ABC News

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Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia return to court as his deportation saga continues

Story by Laura Romero
• 5h • 4 min read

Attorneys for wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia went to court in Maryland on Friday for an evidentiary hearing in which government witnesses are expected to testify about the steps taken to remove him from the United States.
The hearing came after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis appeared exasperated on Monday with government attorneys who could not answer if there was additional evidence about plans to deport him to the south African country Eswatini, beyond letters sent to Abrego Garcia's lawyers.
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday notified Abrego Garcia that it planned to deport him to Ghana. The agency told his attorneys later that the notice was "premature" and asked them to disregard the document.



Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Salvadoran migrant and US resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia looks on as his supporters address the press as he arrives at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025.

Ghana's foreign minister, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, said in a Friday X post that the West African nation is not accepting Abrego Garcia.
"This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities," he wrote. "In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans, purely on the grounds of African solidarity and humanitarian principles would not be expanded."

An official for Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified on Friday that Eswatini has not agreed to receive Abrego Garcia.
John Schultz, the deputy assistant director of Enforcement and Removal Operations who was the government’s witness during the hearing, said that "conversations are ongoing" with the government of Eswatini. He also confirmed that ICE "prematurely" sent Abrego Garcia a notice of removal to Ghana.
DHS says notice about deporting Abrego Garcia to Ghana was 'premature'During the hearing, Schultz said that the ICE field office in Pennsylvania "was just trying to get ahead of things so if Ghana said yes, removal [to Ghana] would be quicker."
The ICE official testified that Abrego Garcia could be removed from the U.S. within 72 hours if the agency gets approval from a third country.
Schulze also testified that he had minimal involvement in Abrego Garcia’s case. He said that in August, he forwarded an email to officials about a chartered flight that was leaving to Africa after Abrego Garcia was placed in immigration detention.

When asked by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys if he had any other involvement in Abrego Garcia’s case prior to Tuesday, Schulze said he could not recall.
The Salvadoran national's attorneys have argued that if there are no current plans for his imminent removal, Abrego Garcia should be released from detention.
Judge denies government's request to delay Abrego Garcia's legal proceedings

Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty. After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he was again detained by immigration authorities and is currently being held in Pennsylvania.

The government has told Abrego Garcia's attorneys that it intends to deport him to a country other then El Salvador, including possibly Uganda or Eswatini.
As Abrego Garcia awaits trial in Tennessee, Judge Xinis has currently banned the government from removing him from the United States.
A separate hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday, where his criminal attorneys in Tennessee will discuss discovery and Abrego Garcia's motion to dismiss that case for vindictive and selective prosecution.
In a filing on Thursday, Robert McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said he will not produce communications between senior government officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, about the prosecution of the case.
"The United States submits that any communications between senior government actors themselves about this case, but which did not influence the Acting United States Attorney because they did not reach him or were not communicated to him would not be discoverable," McGuire said.

The government said in the filing that Abrego Garcia's attorneys have to show that McGuire was "prevailed upon" by another entity like the Department of Homeland Security or the Justice Department to seek an indictment that otherwise would not have been brought.
McGuire previously said in a sworn affidavit that he never received any direction from the DOJ "that was unethical or inappropriate."
"Undersigned counsel intends to submit a supplemental affidavit that he has had no such communications from any source: the Department of Homeland Security, the White House, or anyone," McGuire said.
Abrego Garcia's criminal trial on the Tennessee charges is scheduled for Jan. 27.

Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia return to court as his deportation saga continues

Washington Examiner

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Trump administration scrambles to find country to take Abrego Garcia before judge orders release
Story by Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner
• 13h •



Trump administration scrambles to find country to take Abrego Garcia before judge orders release

The Trump administration is struggling to find a foreign country willing to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national with a checkered legal history, as a federal judge in Maryland weighs ordering his release from immigration detention.
The saga of Abrego Garcia, 29, has become a test of the administration’s “third-country” deportation strategy, which has otherwise logged major successes in returning migrants to partner nations that agree to cooperate with U.S. enforcement. But those efforts have faltered in Abrego Garcia’s case amid diplomatic resistance and lingering legal restrictions from a 2019 immigration ruling that bars his removal to El Salvador.

During a daylong court hearing on Oct. 10, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official testified that U.S. overtures to several African nations have fallen flat. Uganda and Eswatini both rejected requests to receive Abrego Garcia, and Ghana’s foreign minister confirmed on X that his country would not accept him.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers claim those failures show the administration is “dragging its feet” to keep their client locked up while officials insist they are pursuing every available option to carry out a lawful removal.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, sharply criticized the government during the hearing for sending a premature deportation notice to Ghana before receiving any agreement from that country, calling the mistake evidence that parts of her prior order had been ignored. She also questioned why a witness from ICE, John Schultz, was not aware of Abrego Garcia conceding that he would be satisfied if the government deported him to Costa Rica.

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“You come today with a witness who knows nothing about Costa Rica — I mean, less than nothing,” Xinis said, after ICE witness John Schultz admitted he was unaware that Abrego Garcia had already agreed to be deported there, according to Politico's retelling of the hearing. An attorney for the Salvadoran national, Andrew Rossman, said during the hearing that the government's attempts to identify more African countries for consideration suggested that the government was unwilling to entertain the Costa Rica offer.
Schultz testified that the White House had been directly involved in discussions through Homeland Security Council official Matt Ochoa, who at one point suggested Uganda as a destination. Justice Department attorneys quickly invoked executive privilege to cut off further questioning on that subject matter.
The Washington Examiner contacted representatives for the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to inquire whether there had been any diplomatic changes in Eswatini or whether progress had been made on finding a different third country for Abrego Garcia.

A never-ending deportation saga entangled in the courts
Abrego Garcia first entered the United States illegally from El Salvador more than a decade ago and lived in Maryland until his arrest in March. He was briefly deported to El Salvador before a U.S. court ruled the removal illegal because it violated the 2019 “withholding of removal” order meant to protect him from gang retaliation in his home country.
The administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. in June under court order, but federal prosecutors in Tennessee simultaneously charged him with human smuggling after a 2022 traffic stop. He denies the allegations, and U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Friday scheduled hearings for Nov. 4 and 5 to address motions from his defense team claiming “vindictive prosecution” and seeking to suppress certain evidence.
If Abrego Garcia is ultimately convicted in that case, the administration could revisit the 2019 order that blocks deportation to El Salvador — possibly clearing the way for his removal to his home country and ending a standoff that has plagued the administration for months. If the case is not dismissed, a trial is slated for early next year, giving the government an opportunity to chip away at the defendant's limited protection status.

One of the most recent court rulings in the administration's favor was an Oct. 2 ruling by an immigration judge who held that the removal order against Abrego Garcia can still stand. Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor found that Abrego Garcia's recent request for asylum was "untimely," as it arrived nearly six years after litigation over his illegal entry into the U.S. began.
However, that doesn't resolve the more onerous problem in the short term, which is the hunt to find a country willing to take him in.
Six-month rule could limit detention
Immigration attorney Juan Rivera, based in Miami, told the Washington Examiner the government now faces serious time constraints under Zadvydas v. Davis, a 2001 Supreme Court decision that limits post-order detention to roughly six months unless deportation is “reasonably foreseeable.” The ruling requires the government to show “a significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future,” Rivera explained.

“In Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, if three countries have refused to accept him, it becomes increasingly difficult for the government to argue that removal is foreseeable,” he said. “At that point, prolonged detention risks becoming unconstitutional.”
Rivera also said ICE’s notice to Abrego that he would be sent to Ghana — before that country had actually agreed to accept him — “suggests a breakdown in coordination between DHS, ICE, and the State Department.” While such a mistake may not amount to outright bad faith, he said courts under the Zadvydas framework “look at the government’s diligence and credibility in pursuing removal,” meaning even small procedural missteps could hurt the administration’s case.
He added that allegations that the government is detaining Abrego Garcia for political reasons rather than legitimate immigration purposes would be constitutionally significant.

“If the defense can show that the government is keeping Mr. Abrego Garcia detained not for legitimate immigration purposes but to pressure a plea or avoid contradicting a political statement, that raises serious due-process and constitutional concerns,” Rivera said. “Immigration detention must serve a legitimate, non-punitive purpose: ensuring removal or protecting public safety.”
Rivera said the reported involvement of a Homeland Security Council official in determining possible destinations “would be highly unusual” because such decisions are typically handled by ICE and the State Department, not political offices inside the White House. He noted that invoking executive privilege to block further questioning in court “could compound transparency concerns” about how removal decisions are made.
Even so, Rivera emphasized that the Abrego Garcia case doesn’t necessarily signal a broader policy failure. Instead, it highlights “the outer limits of the third-country deportation strategy."

IMMIGRATION JUDGE ALLOWS REMOVAL ORDER TO STAND IN KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA CASE

Other countries fighting lawsuits against deportation deals
A recent BBC report on Oct. 6 underscored how possibly volatile these third-country deals have become, mostly due to activist pressures within foreign countries resulting in litigation in some circumstances. The outlet reported that Eswatini accepted 10 U.S. deportees this month despite a pending court challenge by local human rights groups that argue the agreement with Washington was reached without parliamentary approval.
The Eswatini government confirmed it had agreed to take up to 160 deportees in exchange for roughly $5 million in U.S. assistance to expand its border-management capacity, a deal that critics in the region have called opaque and unconstitutional. The U.S.-Eswatini agreement has also stirred concerns in neighboring South Africa that deportees might slip across the border, illustrating the diplomatic balancing act that now surrounds every such transfer.

Trump administration scrambles to find country to take Abrego Garcia before judge orders release

Trump Admin Seeks to Deport Amid Legal Roadblocks

Story by Michael Davis
Nov 23 • 1 min read • Updated 1h ago

Key takeaways

• The administration aims to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, claiming assurances he won’t face persecution or be sent back to El Salvador.
• Judge Paula Xinis blocked his removal in August; lawyers argue repeated attempts to send him abroad are retaliatory and unsafe.
• Abrego Garcia’s team claims a pattern of retaliation, linking civil and criminal cases to government removal efforts, seeking to maintain the block until judicial review.

Trump Admin Seeks to Deport Amid Legal Roadblocks

ICE official John Cantú testified that the Trump administration has prepared to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia after Liberia gave assurances he would not be persecuted or returned to El Salvador.
Judge Paula Xinis barred Abrego Garcia’s removal in August, and the administration is asking the court to lift that injunction so it can send him to Liberia ahead of his criminal human-smuggling trial.

Abrego Garcia and his lawyers say repeated attempts to send him to African countries are retaliatory and would expose him to persecution.
“The timeline suggests a pattern: when the Government received orders it disliked in Abrego Garcia’s civil case challenging his unlawful removal to El Salvador, it initiated a criminal prosecution in retaliation, and when it received orders it disliked in Abrego Garcia’s criminal case, it initiated third-country removal efforts in retaliation,” his attorneys said.
They want the block on his removal kept until an immigration judge reviews the government’s decisions.
Michael Davis covers U.S. politics & news for content partner Modern Newsstand LLC.

Trump Admin Seeks to Deport Amid Legal Roadblocks