Kilmar Ábrego Garcia returns to federal court Tuesday as the government pushes to deport him to Liberia following a high-profile administrative error that sent him to El Salvador.
The eighteen-month struggle to define the fate of Kilmar Ábrego Garcia enters a new phase on Tuesday as he returns to federal court. At the heart of the proceedings is an escalating battle over where—or if—the 31-year-old Maryland resident will be deported.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis will hear arguments as the federal government seeks to vacate a preliminary injunction that currently blocks Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from deporting Ábrego Garcia to Liberia. His legal team is simultaneously pushing to make that protection permanent. The stakes remain high for the Salvadoran national. who was mistakenly deported to his home country last year—a move officials later admitted was an “administrative error.”.
Following that mistake. Ábrego Garcia was sent to CECOT. a mega-prison in El Salvador noted for reports of severe overcrowding and restricted access to the outdoors. The incident triggered significant public outcry, forcing the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the United States in June 2025. However, the government’s efforts to remove him did not cease. Following his return, the Department of Homeland Security pivoted, proposing his deportation to Liberia instead.
This shift in strategy bypassed an existing agreement with Costa Rica to accept deportees who cannot be safely returned to their home countries. In a March 2026 memo. former acting ICE director Todd Lyons stated that sending Ábrego Garcia to Costa Rica would be “prejudicial to the United States. ” citing the political capital and resources the U.S. invested in negotiating with Liberia to accept third-country nationals.
For those supporting Ábrego Garcia, the legal maneuvering feels less like policy and more like retaliation. Jossie Flor Sapunar. national communications director for the activist group We Are CASA. characterized the government’s pursuit as an attempt to penalize him for defending his rights. “The government is leading the same rodeo as many times before. Sending Kilmar to Costa Rica is on the table. However. the government continues to punish him for pursuing his constitutional rights and seeks to ship him to Liberia. ” Sapunar said. adding that the group views him as a symbol of due process that the administration is attempting to silence.
The human cost of the legal uncertainty is anchored in the life Ábrego Garcia built in Maryland with his wife and child. He first entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager. but in 2019. an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to El Salvador. citing the danger he faced from a gang that targeted his family. His current legal saga reached a boiling point in March 2025. when he was arrested in Baltimore while picking up his then-5-year-old son. who lives with autism and other disabilities.
The government’s resolve to remove him has intersected with other legal complications. Last year. the administration secured an indictment against him for human smuggling in Tennessee. but in May 2026. a federal judge dismissed the case. concluding that the Justice Department had pursued criminal charges as a way to punish Ábrego Garcia for challenging his deportation. The government is currently appealing that dismissal.
As the hearing approaches, the contrast between the government’s strategic goals and the family’s desire for stability remains sharp. While the state argues that maintaining its diplomatic arrangement with Liberia is a matter of national interest. Ábrego Garcia’s supporters maintain that his only goal is to remain with his family. whether in Maryland or Costa Rica.
Kilmar Ábrego Garcia immigration deportation Liberia El Salvador Paula Xinis ICE Maryland