A federal judge said on Friday that government lawyers could not explain what the Trump administration did to arrange for the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to an infamous Salvador prison last month.
U.S. government lawyers also struggled to provide information on the exact location that the Trump administration must bring him back despite Thursday’s decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Where is he and whose authority is he?” US District Judge Paula Sinis asked in Maryland court.
She was clearly upset and angry at the hearing that lasted less than an hour.
“I’m not seeking state secrets,” she said. “All I know is that he is not here. The government was forbidden from sending him to El Salvador. And now I have a very simple question: Where is he?”
Sinis ordered the Trump administration to provide daily updates on Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts.
Four weeks after his Maryland father was taken into custody on the ice and illegally deported to El Salvador, his wife and lawmakers discussed the need to bring him home on Capitol Hill. Reported by Paul Wagner of News4.
Deputy Attorney General Drew Ensign said the government has no evidence to contradict the belief that Abrego Garcia is still in El Salvador.
In response, Xinis states: “That’s very troublesome.”
The judge also repeatedly relied on asking what was done to promote Abrego Garcia’s return, saying, “Did they do something?” – to which he had no personal knowledge of what was done.
“That means they didn’t do anything,” the judge said, adding later:
A Trump administration lawyer told Sinis on Friday morning that her Friday morning information deadline was “practical.” They said there was no time to consider the Supreme Court decision.
Sinis had directed the Trump administration to “take all available measures to promote return” of Abrego Garcia following Thursday’s High Court order.
She called for Abrego Garcia’s position and custody status and a declaration from the administration that took steps the administration took to promote his return.
The U.S. lawyer also wrote in his application Friday morning that the U.S. government “is “irrational” for these measures to take potential measures prior to review, agreement and review.
“Diplomacy cannot operate on a judicial timeline because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations that are completely inappropriate for judicial review,” the lawyer wrote.
In Thursday’s decision, the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s emergency appeal against the April 4 order for Abrego Garcia’s return.
Salvador citizens have been given an immigration court order that prevented deportation to their home country over fears of persecution from local gangs.
Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sula, was in court with dozens of supporters who had been standing with her after the hearing.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyer said she couldn’t get the answer she wanted to hear.
“In this case, they sent counsels who had no answers to the court, and he explained that his client, the government, had chosen not to give him any information or evidence.
The Supreme Court has issued a series of rulings on emergency facilities where the conservative majority is at least partially on Trump’s side amid a wave of lower court orders that delay the president’s sweeping agenda. On Thursday, the court said that Abrego Garcia is being detained overseas and that Sinis’ order must be made clear to prevent him from invading his enforcement power on diplomacy.
“The order properly requires that the government “promotes” the release of Abrego Garcia from custody in El Salvador and ensures that his case is processed if it is not inappropriately sent to El Salvador,” the court said in the order accused of the unaccused order.
The administration claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, but he has never been charged or convicted of a crime. His lawyer said there was no evidence that he was on MS-13.
The administration admitted that it made a mistake sending him to El Salvador, but insisted that it could no longer do anything about it. The liberal justice in the court said the administration should be in a hurry to correct “that terrible error” and was “obviously wrong” to suggest that he could not bring him home.
President Trump has proposed that deporting American criminals to prisons in El Salvador “if legal.” However, according to legal scholars in Georgetown, the Constitution is clear on the issue. Other contexts are reported by Tracee Wilkins of News4.
Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sula, said the ordeal was a “emotional roller coaster” for the family and the community as a whole.
“I’m waiting with concern for Kilmer to come here in my arms. In our house, I put my kids to bed knowing that this nightmare is almost over. I’ll continue to fight until my husband is home,” she said.
Sinis’ April 4th order said the government’s decision to arrest Abrego Garcia and send him to El Salvador appears to be “completely lawless.”
“There is little evidence to support the “ambiguous, uncovered” allegations that Abrego Garcia was once in the MS-13 Street Gang,” the judge wrote.
The 29-year-old was detained by an immigration agent and was deported last month. He was legally authorized to work in the United States by the Homeland Security Agency and was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing a Journeyman license, his lawyer said. His wife is a US citizen.
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