Liberia agrees to take Abrego Garcia if he's deported, Trump administration says

Abrego is challenging efforts to re-deport him to a third country after the government admitted that a previous order prevents his deportation to El Salvador.

The Trump administration has identified a new country to which it wishes to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The western African nation of Liberia has agreed to accept him, according to a new filing, two weeks after the most recent hearing in Maryland federal court.

The new document, filed Friday, said Abrego could be deported as soon as Oct. 31. So far, there's no word from Judge Paula Xinis, who held a hearing Oct. 10 in Maryland and said, "You will be hearing from me soon."

Abrego's attorney said in a statement his client has no connection with Liberia.

Abrego, a Salvadoran national, has an American wife and children. He grew up in El Salvador and fled at 16 because a local gang extorted and terrorized his family, according to court records. He immigrated to the United States illegally as a teenager and has lived in Maryland for years, but on March 12, he was detained in College Park.

He was deported to El Salvador three days later under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, although his wife said he had protected status in the U.S., NBC Washington and Telemundo 44 were first to report.

Abrego was held in a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador before being returned to the U.S. in June and was sent to a Tennessee jail. He was released from that jail in August while awaiting trial on federal human smuggling charges and is now being held at a Pennsylvania detention center.

Abrego is challenging efforts to re-deport him to a third country after the government admitted that a previous order prevents his deportation to El Salvador.

At least three other African countries — Eswatini, Ghana and Uganda — approached by the Trump administration about taking Abrego have rejected the idea.

His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a statement Friday: "Having struck out with Uganda, Eswatini and Ghana, ICE now seeks to deport our client Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia – a country with which he has no connection, thousands of miles from his family and home in Maryland. Costa Rica has agreed to accept him as a refugee, and remains a viable and lawful option. Instead, the government has chosen yet another path that feels designed to inflict maximum hardship. Their actions are punitive, cruel and unconstitutional."

The Trump administration claims Abrego is a member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 and should not be allowed to stay in the United States.

Abrego's attorneys and family deny that he has any gang connections and said they believe he is being punished for fighting for his constitutional rights. They have demanded his release and are seeking to stop his deportation.

NBC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.