GREENBELT, MARYLAND — A hearing before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis regarding the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia was canceled on Tuesday. Attorneys for both sides held a 15-minute conference before the hearing was canceled.

The federal government is moving to vacate a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Xinis that prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining and deporting Garcia to Liberia. Garcia's legal team is seeking to make the injunction preventing his deportation permanent.

The Trump administration stated in March that it was ready to deport Garcia to Liberia and asked Judge Xinis to dissolve her order blocking his removal. Todd Lyons, former acting director of ICE, stated in a March 2026 memo that deporting Garcia to Costa Rica would be "prejudicial to the United States" because the U.S. had expended resources negotiating with Liberia.

Garcia has designated Costa Rica as his preferred country of removal, and Costa Rica has indicated it would provide him refugee status or residency. Jossie Flor Sapunar, national communications director for We Are CASA, said, "The government is leading the same rodeo as many times before. Sending Kilmar to Costa Rica is on the table. However, the government continues to punish him for pursuing his constitutional rights and seeks to ship him to Liberia." Sapunar said, “Kilmar has become an international symbol of due process, a symbol which the Trump administration wants to silence.” Judge Xinis ordered Garcia released from custody in December.

Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March 2025 despite a 2019 immigration judge order blocking his removal there due to gang threats. ICE officials admitted in court filings that Garcia's deportation to El Salvador was an "administrative error." Garcia was held at the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador after his wrongful deportation. Garcia was returned to the United States in June 2025.

The Trump administration accused Garcia of being a member of MS-13, a US-designated terrorist organization, based on a county police report mentioned during a 2019 immigration court bail proceeding. Garcia is 31 years old, has an American wife and child, and has lived in Maryland for years. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.

Garcia was arrested in Baltimore in March 2025 while picking up his son from his grandmother's house. Garcia's son has autism and other disabilities.

The Trump administration attempted to deport Garcia to Uganda, Eswatini, and Ghana, but none of the countries agreed to accept him. Liberia is among the countries that have agreed to accept non-native immigrants from the U.S., and the Trump administration began sending deportees from Latin America there in August.