The Donald Trump administration told Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday that it is now seeking to deport him to the small African kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) email obtained by CBS News.

The government Trump previously said he would seek to remove Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador if a judge granted his lawyers’ request to reopen his immigration case. The update came via an email from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, who said that his claim of fear of persecution in Uganda is “hard to take seriously” as he has also stated a fear of persecution or torture in at least 22 other countries. The countries mentioned in the email include El Salvador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti. In response, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers emailed ICE notifying the agency that Abrego Garcia also “expresses a fear of torture and persecution upon removal to Eswatini.” Third-country nationals previously deported from the United States to Eswatini have been detained in extremely harsh conditions. and appalling; that country has a well-documented history of human rights violations,” his lawyers said. “And, to our knowledge, Eswatini has offered no assurances that it will not promptly deport Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, where he has already suffered torture and will suffer it again.”

What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who lived in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation there due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration claimed he belonged to the MS-13 gang, a claim his family and lawyers deny.

He was returned to the United States in June to face human trafficking charges in Tennessee, to which he pleaded not guilty.

After being released into his brother's custody in Maryland pending trial, he was detained again by immigration authorities, who indicated their intention to deport him.

Last month, a federal judge blocked Abrego Garcia's deportation until at least early October. He is currently being held at a detention center in Farmville, Virginia.

The court filing, filed with the Baltimore Immigration Court on Thursday, came after Abrego-Garcia’s attorneys requested that his asylum case be reopened.

In that filing, federal authorities argued they may have a legal avenue to deport him to El Salvador a second time.

“If the Immigration Court grants Respondent’s request to reopen, DHS will seek his removal to El Salvador as the previously granted stay of removal will no longer be valid,” the government stated in the filing.

In 2019, an immigration judge granted Abrego-Garcia a removal order, which barred his deportation to El Salvador.

If the case is reopened, Abrego-Garcia will have to demonstrate his eligibility for any protection or amparo from El Salvador, the court said. government.