Overview
- At a Maryland evidentiary hearing, ICE official John Schultz said Uganda and Eswatini declined to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and Ghana’s foreign minister publicly stated his country would not take him after a premature U.S. notice.
- U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis criticized the government’s lack of concrete steps and said she will issue a written ruling on whether continued immigration detention is lawful absent a realistic path to removal.
- Abrego Garcia’s lawyers pressed for release under Supreme Court limits on prolonged detention, arguing the government’s rotating notices show no imminent deportation can be carried out.
- Defense attorneys noted Costa Rica has indicated it would receive Abrego Garcia, yet government lawyers acknowledged they have not pursued removal there while saying talks with Eswatini continue and removal could occur within 72 hours if a country agreed.
- In a parallel criminal case in Tennessee, Judge Waverly Crenshaw found a realistic likelihood of vindictive prosecution, authorized discovery, set a Nov. 3 evidentiary hearing, and prosecutors resisted turning over senior‑official communications.