The Trump administration told a Salvadoran man at the center of a long-running immigration dispute that he could be deported to Eswatini, according to an email to his lawyers seen by CBS and reported by the BBC.
An immigration officer notified attorneys this week that last month’s decision to send 30-year-old Kilmar Ábrego García to Uganda would be changed after he raised concerns that he would face persecution there. The officer wrote that those claims were "hard to take seriously" but said the United States would "nonetheless" agree not to send him to Uganda, and that Eswatini was being considered instead.
Ábrego García has no known ties to Eswatini, the southern African kingdom formerly called Swaziland. The Eswatini designation is at least the fourth country to be floated as a possible destination for the man who has repeatedly challenged U.S. immigration authorities.
The case dates to March, when Ábrego García was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and later returned to the United States. U.S. officials acknowledged at the time that his removal had been made in error. In June he was brought back to the United States, detained and charged with human smuggling; he pleaded not guilty. The Trump administration has alleged that he is a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation Ábrego García denies.
Immigration lawyers for Ábrego García have raised fears that sending him to certain countries would expose him to persecution or other serious risks. The correspondence reviewed by CBS indicates officials considered those claims but disagreed with their credibility in at least one instance, prompting the change from Uganda to Eswatini in officials' thinking.
The shifting list of potential countries has highlighted broader questions about how U.S. authorities determine safe third-country removals and the legal protections afforded to asylum seekers and other migrants. Advocates and some legal experts have criticized the administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, arguing it can produce rushed or erroneous decisions; the administration says its policies are aimed at curbing illicit migration and gang violence.
Ábrego García’s case has drawn attention because of the unusual sequence of events — an acknowledged erroneous removal, criminal charges after his return, and now the consideration of multiple, distant countries as potential destinations. Court filings and public records show the case has moved through both criminal and immigration proceedings, underscoring the intersection of enforcement actions under the Trump administration.
U.S. immigration officials did not immediately comment beyond the contents of the email seen by CBS. Ábrego García’s lawyers have argued that he should not be removed to countries where he lacks ties or where he would be at risk; the recent email indicates officials changed their prior plan after those arguments but still contemplated removal to a third country.
The matter is likely to continue through legal channels as lawyers for Ábrego García seek to block any removal they say would endanger him, and as the government pursues its claims in both criminal and immigration courts. The case remains a focal point in debates over the reach and methods of the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.