Federal Judge Says Trump Admin Seemingly Blocking Abrego Garcia's Deportation To Costa Rica, Wants To Take Him To Africa

Xinis also noted that Costa Rica has shown willingness to take Abrego Garcia and expressed her frustration at the fact that immigration official Jonathan Schultz kept talking about taking him to Eswatini. She told a DOJ lawyer that the government presented a witness who "knows nothing, and I mean next to nothing, about Costa Rica."

Schulz also said officials have been discussing deporting the man to Ghana, but authorities from the African country said they are not accepting him. "He cannot be deported to Ghana. This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities," said Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in a social media post.

"In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans, purely on the grounds of African solidarity and humanitarian principles would not be expanded," he added.

Human rights groups have long criticized Eswatini's record on political freedoms and migration policies.

Advocates argue that the Eswatini order violates U.S. obligations under international refugee conventions. Critics of the administration, however, insist that Ábrego García has exhausted his legal avenues and should be deported.

Xinis, meanwhile, continues blocking the removal of Abrego Garcia while his criminal case on human smuggling charges continues in Tennessee. She's also weighing the possibility of releasing him from custody while the challenge to his detention continues.