DHS asks judge to lift Kilmar Abrego Garcia deportation block, says ready to deport him to Liberia

The Department of Homeland Security has asked a federal judge to lift her order blocking the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying that the agency is ready to send him to Liberia.

DHS made the request of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis for the District of Maryland, an Obama appointee, on Friday, saying that the order is the only impediment currently preventing Abrego Garcia's deportation, CBS News reported.

The Trump administration indicated in court filings that Liberia's government remains willing to accept Abrego Garcia and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could arrange a charter plane to send him to the West African country in about five days.

An ICE official said in a declaration that the agency is "confident that Mr. Abrego Garcia's removal would be imminent" if Xinis lifts her order. DHS said in its new court filing that the government is prepared to remove Abrego Garcia from the U.S. "in an extremely expeditious manner" once her order has been dissolved, and asked Xinis to issue a ruling on the motion by April 17.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who had been illegally living in Maryland with his family, was deported to El Salvador last March. The Trump administration said he was an MS-13 gang member, which he has denied.

Abrego Garcia was set to be imprisoned at the Salvadoran mega-prison CECOT, despite a judge's 2019 order blocking his deportation there because he could be harmed by local gangs. He was returned to the U.S. last summer to face criminal charges for human smuggling, tied to allegations that he transported illegal immigrants into the U.S.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which his attorneys have argued are vindictive because of a civil lawsuit he filed against the Trump administration, which successfully challenged his removal.