Trump administration seeks federal judge approval for Liberia deportation

US President Donald Trump’s administration called on a federal judge to approve Kelmar Abrego Garcia’s extradition to Liberia on Friday, saying all legal hurdles had been cleared.

Friday’s filing is the latest in the administration’s efforts to deport Abrego Garcia for a second time after his return from El Salvador earlier this year. The Justice Department called on U.S. District Judge Paula Shenis to approve the deportation, saying Abrego Garcia had failed to prove he would face persecution in Liberia.

The Justice Department argued that “petitioner’s claims are procedurally barred several times and fail to present the merits in any event.” “This court must therefore set aside its initial order and allow the government to deport the petitioner to Liberia.”

US lawyers also said Liberia had presented “sufficient and credible” arguments that Abrego Garcia would not be harmed.

DHS Will Soon Deport Abrego Garcia to African Nation After Illegal Alien Returns from El Salvador, Filing Says

However, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say he was not given due process to justify his deportation.

“The government insists that the unjustified decision of a single immigration officer — who concluded that Abrego Garcia failed to prove that it was ‘more likely’ that he would be persecuted or tortured in Liberia — meets due process,” his lawyers wrote in their filing on Friday. Meets due process. He does not do that.”

His lawyers also say that Abrego Garcia is the victim of a retaliatory prosecution, noting that Costa Rica has already offered to accept his deportation flight as a refugee. The United States said it would not send him to Costa Rica unless he agreed to plead guilty to human trafficking charges.

Abrego Garcia has been released from prison and will return to Maryland to await trial

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say he faces retaliation from the U.S. government. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“The timeline suggests a pattern: When the government received orders it did not like in Abrego Garcia’s civil case challenging his illegal deportation to El Salvador; it initiated a criminal prosecution in retaliation; when it received orders it did not like in Abrego Garcia’s criminal case, it began deportation efforts to a third country in retaliation,” the attorneys said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed “activist” judges for Kelmar Abrego Garcia’s release earlier this year. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

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Earlier in the case, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers named more than 20 countries where he fears persecution or torture if he is extradited there. Liberia was not among those on the list.

“Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the United States’ closest partners on the African continent,” the Justice Department said in October.