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A Justice Department lawyer who struggled in court Friday to explain the expulsion of a Maryland man to El Salvador said he was on administrative leave.
During the hearing, government lawyer Erez Luvveni expressed his dissatisfaction with the judge not having the information he is seeking in the case of deported man Kilmer Abrego Garcia, and revealed that he has not received much help from his boss.
Abrego Garcia “should not have been removed,” he said. “I’m also frustrated that there’s no answer to you about many of these questions,” he said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement following the news that Reuveni has been on leave:
The action concludes another week of friction between the Judiciary Chapter and the Trump administration.
When US District Judge Paula Sinis was asked Friday if there was evidence to show why Abrego Garcia was arrested, Roubeni said “the lack of evidence speaks for itself.” He added, “The government has chosen not to produce any evidence here.”
When asked by Xinis why the US could not actually return Abrego Garcia to the US, Reuveni stated that he had the same question.
He said when the incident landed on his desk, “The first thing I did was to ask my client the same question. I have not yet received a satisfactory answer.”
Abrego Garcia was deported to the infamous El Salvador prison on March 15th. He is a protected legal resident and has been living in Maryland since 2011.
In a court application Monday, the government said Abrego Garcia had been deported due to “administrative errors.”
Abrego Garcia filed a lawsuit last week demanding that the law be returned to the US, but Homeland Security Secretary Christi Noem argued that the government does not have the authority to request Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
The alien enemy law is the rarely used 1798 law that allows the president to imprison and deport non-citizens during wartime. This is what you need to know.
Still, Sinis ruled on Friday that the government must return Abrego Garcia to the US by 11:59pm on Monday.
Management authorities, including Vice President JD Vance, claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say he has no criminal history in the United States or El Salvador and fled El Salvador to escape gang violence.
The immigration judge specifically banned Abrego Garcia from being returned to El Salvador in 2019, saying that he “is likely to be persecuted” within the country.
The Trump administration on Saturday called for Garcia’s return, claiming that Sinis does not have the authority to “engage with foreign powers.” She asked the Fourth Circuit to suspend Xinis’ orders and also asked Xinis to suspend her own judgment while the appeal was underway.
Roubeni’s name was not listed in the government’s Saturday afternoon complaint to maintain Sinis’ order.
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