US Seeks to Lift Injunction on Salvadoran's Deportation to Liberia

The Trump administration filed a motion on Friday urging U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to dissolve an injunction that has prevented the detention and deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 31-year-old Salvadoran national living in Maryland, to Liberia. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that the order is the sole remaining obstacle to his removal, which they said could occur within five days via a chartered flight if lifted.

In the court filing, the Department of Justice argued that the injunction contradicts established legal principles by both blocking removal and then deeming the resulting detention prolonged. "The Court cannot both impose the impediment that delays removal and consequently prolongs detention and, at the same time, hold that the resulting detention is impermissibly prolonged," the filing stated. Government attorneys requested a ruling by April 17, emphasizing that Liberia's government has agreed to accept Abrego Garcia, and that ICE has coordinated logistics with a removal contractor.

Abrego Garcia's case stems from a series of legal and administrative missteps in the administration's...