Judge scolds Trump administration in Abrego Garcia case: ‘Exercise in utter frustration'

GREENBELT, MD – A frustrated federal judge scolded the Trump administration on May 16 for refusing to provide details about what it has done to return a Maryland father wrongly deported to El Salvador.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland said during a hearing that the Justice Department has not made a 'good faith' effort to comply with her request for information on what the government is doing to bring home Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The government's response has been an "exercise in utter frustration,' she said.
Attorney Jonathan David Guynn, representing the Trump administration, said the government believes it has complied with the judge's order and that compelling it to provide more details runs the risk of exposing state secrets and damaging U.S. foreign relations.
"There's a lot more meat on the bone than you're giving this declaration credit for," he said.
But Xinis said the government's position is basically, "Judge, take my word for it."
Abrego Garcia, 29, was expelled from the U.S. and sent back to El Salvador in March even though a court order had barred the government from returning him to his native country.
The Trump administration admitted in court records that he had been deported by mistake but argues it has no authority to bring him back because he is in a foreign country. The U.S. government contends he is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, but Abrego Garcia and his attorneys say he is not.
Xinis has ruled the government acted illegally when it deported him and has ordered the administration to 'facilitate' his return. The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled in a 9-0 decision on April 10 that the government must begin the process of releasing him. But he remains in a prison outside of San Salvador.
Several documents the government has filed in the case have been sealed, with Justice Department citing state secrets privileges that allow it to keep sensitive national security information from the public.
Xinis said the government invoked the state secrets privilege 246 times in the case and other privileges at least 1,400 times.
But Abrego Garcia's attorneys have noted that several high-ranking officials – including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and even President Donald Trump – have spoken publicly about the case.
'Over and over, the Government has stonewalled Plaintiffs by asserting unsupported privileges – primarily state secrets and deliberative process – to withhold written discovery and to instruct witnesses not to answer even basic questions,' Abrego Garcia's attorneys said in documents filed on May 12.
'Even as the Government speaks freely about Abrego Garcia in public, in this litigation it insists on secrecy,' they said.
During the hearing, Xinis read a direct quote from Noem about Abrego Garcia's deportation. "He will not return to our country under the Trump administration," the secretary said.
Xinis said that sounds like a direct admission that the government will take no steps to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. "That's about as clear as it can get," she said.
At the end of the hearing, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, Xinis cleared the courtroom so attorneys could discuss the materials that are under seal. She said she would likely issue a written order on the next steps in the case.
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? The answer is found on the streets where he lived and worked
Abrego Garcia, a union sheet metal worker and a father of three, had lived for more than a decade in Maryland after entering the United States illegally. He was detained in March by immigration officials near his home in Beltsville, Maryland, about a half hour outside of Washington.
He was last seen in April, when U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, was allowed to meet with him at a hotel in San Salvador.
Guynn said Abrego Garcia remains in custody at the El Centro Penitentiary in Santa Ana. "He's in good health," Guynn said, adding, "he's gained weight."
Abrego Garcia's family has sued the U.S. government demanding his return.
'I miss you so much': A Maryland dad was sent to El Salvador prison by mistake. Can his community get him back?
Before the hearing, a crowd gathered outside the courthouse and chanted: "Bring him home!"
Ama Frimpong, legal director for the immigrant rights nonprofit CASA, said the government's response has been "nothing but excuses."
'We are looking for the judge to recognize that, essentially, the government is trying to delay and honestly refuse to comply with the court's orders to bring Kilmer home," she said.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who attended the rally, added: 'Yes, it's about one man, but it's about the Constitution of the United States."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge scolds Trump admin in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case

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