Abrego Garcia's Limbo: ICE vs. Costa Rica

0:00It's April 8th. You're listening to Global News today, AI Power Coverage from around the world. I'm Cory with the story. U.S. government lawyers told a federal judge this week that homeland security still plans to deport Salvador National Kilmar-Abergo Garcia to. Liberia, even with the fresh deal for Costa Rica, to take deportees who can't go home. Earlier this year, a Maryland judge blocked immigration and customs enforcement from deporting or detaining the 30-year-old, calling their African. Country proposals empty threats with no real shot at working. Abergo Garcia wants to head to Costa Rica instead, since they've agreed before, but ICE leadership says that would hurt U.S. interests after all the effort put into Liberia talks. The case blew up last year when he got mistakenly shipped back to El Salvador, despite a ruling that he faced gang threats there. Take out cry and a court order brought him back under Trump's administration, but not before they hit him with human smuggling charges in Tennessee, where he says he's innocent.

1:02At Tuesday's hearing, Justice Department reps floated the idea that he could just remove himself to Costa Rica, but the judge shut that down quick, calling it a fantasy while his criminal case hangs over him. She set briefings and a follow-up hearing for April 28th. This saga spotlights the messy immigration fights, with Abergo Garcia married to an American with a kid here, stuck in limbo after years in Maryland, since sneaking in as a team. The battle rolls on, testing deportation limits, and third country deals.