Eswatini’s government said on Thursday it has no agreement with the United States to receive Kilmar Abrego, contradicting U.S. indications last week that the Salvadoran national could be deported to the small African kingdom.
“The Government of Eswatini has not received any communication regarding this person,” government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli told Reuters.
“Any proposal to send more deportees to Eswatini will be discussed between the governments of Eswatini and the United States of America prior to initiating processes, and the country will be properly informed,” she added in a text message.
Eswatini accepted five third-country deportees from the U.S. in July, a move now facing a court challenge from local rights activists who say the deal with the Trump administration was unlawful.
Abrego, originally from El Salvador and currently held at an immigration detention centre in Virginia, has become a flashpoint in the U.S. immigration crackdown. In a Sept. 5 email to Abrego’s lawyers, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official wrote: “We hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini.”
The official said the change followed Abrego’s statement that he feared persecution or torture in Uganda, previously designated for his removal. Abrego has no ties to Eswatini.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Eswatini’s statement.
Abrego’s case drew attention in March when U.S. authorities accused him of gang membership and sent him to a prison in El Salvador despite a U.S. judge’s order prohibiting his deportation to his home country.