Accused MS-13 gangbanger and El Salvador national Kilmar Abrego Garcia is now reportedly facing deportation to the tiny Southern African nation Eswatini after rejecting a deal from the Trump administration.
The one-time Maryland resident accused of human smuggling — who was repatriated to the US after being deported to El Salvador earlier this year — was informed of impending removal in a Friday email from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Eswatini was chosen after Garcia, 30, listed 22 countries he could not live in for “fear of persecution or torture,” — including Uganda, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, and several other South American countries, read the removal notice, which was obtained by Fox News.
The deportation order comes after Garcia rejected an offer to plead guilty to human smuggling charges and serve out his sentence in Costa Rica.
El Salvador willingly accepted Abrego Garcia into custody at the nation’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center on March 15 — but released him back to the US in June following a Supreme Court ruling.
He was taken into custody at Putnam County Jail in Tennessee and then released on Aug. 22, allowing him to return to Maryland under electronic surveillance and home confinement.
Shortly after his release DHS vowed to deport the alleged transnational criminal to Uganda, and now appears to be opting for the lesser known, landlocked nation Eswatini.
The Trump administration has previously shipped five deportees to the maximum-security prison in Eswatini with those deportations already being met with legal challenges.
The Legal Aid Society is representing one of the men, a Jamaican national who claims to have been “inexplicably and illegally” sent to Eswatini when his home country was willing to accept him back — a claim which DHS rejects.
Eswatini, the last remaining absolute monarchy on the continent, is one of the smallest countries in Africa, nestled along the interior eastern border of South Africa and abutting Mozambique.
The nation’s current king is Mswati III who has 16 wives and dozens of children, according to reports.
About 32% of the population of Eswatini lives below the poverty line, according to The World Bank.
Read the full article here
