A Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador is now at the center of a legal battle after a federal judge sharply criticized the U.S. government’s handling of his case. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to a prison in El Salvador last month, was deported despite a 2019 court order barring his removal. The incident has raised concerns about the government’s failure to rectify the mistake, and the case has now entered a critical stage.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been living in the U.S. for years before his wrongful deportation. In 2011, he fled El Salvador to escape political violence. After being detained by immigration authorities, a U.S. court issued a 2019 ruling preventing his deportation to El Salvador.
Despite this court order, Abrego Garcia was deported last month due to what the U.S. government has described as an “administrative error.” He was sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador, a country still struggling with gang violence and human rights violations. This mistake has sparked outrage, and his legal team has been working relentlessly to bring him back to the United States.
Federal District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case, has been vocal in her criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of Abrego Garcia’s situation. At a hearing on Friday, Judge Xinis expressed frustration with the U.S. government’s failure to take meaningful action to rectify the error.
She ordered that the Justice Department provide her with daily updates on their efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. Judge Xinis said, “From now until compliance, I am going to require daily statuses, daily updates.” The judge emphasized that she wanted concrete information on the steps the government had taken and intended to take in order to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. and resolve the issue.
The Justice Department’s response to the judge’s inquiries was far from satisfactory. During the hearing, Judge Xinis repeatedly asked Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign where Abrego Garcia was being held and under whose authority. Ensign admitted that he did not have the information and was unable to answer the judge’s simple and crucial questions.
The judge’s repeated inquiries about the deportee’s location were met with confusion, prompting her to question how the government could fail to know such basic information about an individual who had been wrongfully deported.
Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, shared Judge Xinis’ frustration. Speaking to the media following the hearing, Sandoval-Moshenberg expressed his deep concern over the case’s lack of transparency and urgency.
“It’s really distressing to me that the first question the judge asked the lawyer for the government is, where is Kilmar Abrego Garcia and under what custody?” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “And even that basic question, he wasn’t able to answer… that’s terrifying.”
The lack of clarity and the slow pace of progress in the case have left Abrego Garcia’s legal team frustrated. They are concerned that the Justice Department is not taking the situation seriously and may be deliberately dragging its feet.
Sandoval-Moshenberg has indicated that if the government does not make a good-faith effort to comply with Judge Xinis’ orders, he will ask the judge to take further action. He also stated that if the government continues to fail to provide the necessary updates, he will demand that the judge intervene more decisively.
The case gained additional significance after the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on Thursday, upholding Judge Xinis’ earlier ruling and reaffirming that the government must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court clarified that the government had an obligation to act and return Abrego Garcia, despite the government’s claims that his deportation was an administrative error. The Court’s ruling has pushed the Justice Department to move forward in the case, but the lack of actionable steps and the delay in providing information have sparked public concern.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation has sparked widespread debate about the integrity of the U.S. immigration system. His deportation occurred despite the fact that he had been granted legal protections in the U.S. His lawyers have argued that sending him back to El Salvador, where he fled violence years ago, would put him in serious danger.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation has also raised alarms about the accuracy of the immigration system, particularly when it comes to deporting individuals to countries where they may face significant harm.
The government’s initial defense has centered around the argument that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, a claim that his lawyers and his wife have denied. The Justice Department argued that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order his return to the U.S. or order El Salvador to release him.
However, Abrego Garcia’s legal team has challenged this argument, arguing that the deportation was illegal and should be reversed. The Supreme Court’s decision to side with Judge Xinis underscores the strength of this argument and the legal and human rights issues surrounding the case.
The case has highlighted the challenges within the U.S. immigration system, especially when it comes to deportations. While the government has claimed that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a mistake, it is still unclear how such an error could have occurred, given the legal protections in place. The situation also highlights the difficulty of ensuring accountability in a system that frequently handles large volumes of cases and deportations.
In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Justice Department has emphasized its role in foreign policy and its authority over deportations. The department has argued that foreign affairs are the purview of the executive branch and that judicial oversight of such matters is limited.
However, Abrego Garcia’s legal team has made it clear that they intend to hold the government accountable for its actions. “The rule of law prevailed,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg. Now, they need to stop wasting time and get moving.”
The case is ongoing, but Judge Xinis’ decision to require daily updates and her continued pressure on the Justice Department indicate that the government will have to act quickly to resolve the issue. For Abrego Garcia, his future remains uncertain, but the legal battle over his wrongful deportation is far from over.
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