ICE tells Kilmar Abrego Garcia he’ll be deported to tiny African country (2026)

An attorney representing the Department of Homeland Security and ICE has notified high-profile illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia that he will be deported to the tiny African nation Eswatini, after the alleged gang member’s lawyers said he fears persecution in 22 other countries.

According to a removal notice shared with Fox News by ICE sources, the agency notified Abrego Garcia that in light of his claims of fear of persecution or torture in nearly two dozen other countries, "we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa."

"Dear Mr. Abrego Garcia," the notice reads, "As you know, the United States seeks to remove you from the United States based on your final order of removal. Currently, you are designated to be removed to Uganda. Your attorney has informed us, however, that you fear persecution or torture in Uganda."

The ICE notice states, "That claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries."

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador earlier this year, and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, left, arrive for a check-in at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025 (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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The notice lists 22 countries, including El Salvador, Uganda and twenty Latin American countries.

"Nonetheless," the notice states, "we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa."

DHS also reposted a copy of the notification on its official X account with the caption, "Homie is afraid of the entire western hemisphere."

Following his March deportation to his home country of El Salvador, Abrego Garcia has become a cause célèbres for many Democrats charging the Trump administration of denying immigrants their due process. He was returned to the U.S. in June and is currently standing trial for human smuggling related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee in which he was found transporting several non-citizens across the country.

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A member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus holds a picture of Kilmar Abrego Garcia during a news conference. (Getty Images)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of the Salvadoran MS-13 as well as a "human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator."

He is currently being kept at an immigration detention center in Virginia while his case is ongoing after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee,ruled to temporarily block Abrego Garcia’s deportation to Uganda.

Chris Newman, an attorney for Abrego Garcia’s family, has categorically denied DHS' allegations, telling Fox News Digital, "None of those things are true, full stop."

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at Reagan National Airport in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

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He said that "in essence" what the Trump administration has done "is to use the highest office in the land to blackmail an innocent man into sacrificing his constitutional rights."