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A federal judge yesterday ripped into Trump administration officials for their inaction in the Abrego Garcia deportation case involving El Salvador and its president, Hayib Bukele. During a hearing in Greenbelt, MD, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis made little attempt to hide her anger at brazen defiance of her orders from the White House. Still, Xinis did not announce a ruling on possible contempt of court and scheduled two weeks of discovery before publicly addressing that issue -- and others.
In an article at thehill.com -- under the headline "Judge orders Trump officials’ depositions, blasts inaction in Abrego Garcia case" -- Zach Schonfeld and Rebecca Beitsch report:
A federal judge Tuesday ordered depositions from several Trump officials, blasting the administration for failing to take any steps to secure the return of a Maryland man wrongly deported to a Salvadoran prison.
During a hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis repeatedly clashed with Drew Ensign, an attorney with the Justice Department, as the judge contended the government had flouted her orders demanding updates on efforts to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return.
“What the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing. I asked for reports from individuals with direct knowledge and I’ve gotten very little information of any value,” the judge said, noting that she gave “a very simple directive” for updates on steps the government had taken.
Xinis, an Obama appointee, said she was holding off at this juncture on deciding whether the government should be held in contempt but would still rule down the road.
For now, the judge ordered the administration to respond to interrogatories and document production requests. She also ordered the four government officials who signed affidavits in the case to sit for depositions by April 23, giving Abrego Garcia’s lawyers a chance to question key immigration officials in the administration.
Xinis seemed to almost suppress a guffaw when a Trump lawyer suggested he would appeal her ruling. In fact, the judge and the lawyer, Drew Ensign, tangled on a number of issues throughout the hearing -- perhaps because Ensign had the unenviable task of presenting the administration's dubious arguments -some of which bordered on the absurd:
Ensign signaled the administration may assert legal privileges to avoid at least one of the depositions. He also suggested the government may appeal Xinis’s order, saying “we don't believe discovery is appropriate.”
“You lost. This is now about the scope of the remedy,” Xinis said, adding that there is nothing to appeal.
Abrego Garcia was protected under a 2019 immigration court ruling from being deported to El Salvador, and the Trump administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting him there last month. Citing an informant, the administration accuses the man of being a part of MS-13, but Abrego Garcia’s family contests any gang ties.
The hearing was largely focused on whether the Trump administration had complied with a Supreme Court ruling that largely upheld an earlier order from Xinis, saying the administration must “facilitate” his return from CECOT, a notorious prison in El Salvador known by its acronym in Spanish.
Ensign said Xinis should consider the term in the narrower sense used in immigration law, suggesting the U.S. could only help the imprisoned man if he were able to escape CECOT and present himself before U.S. officials.
The Trump administration had also argued that they are unable to push a foreign country to release someone in their custody — though the U.S. has paid El Salvador $6 million to imprison Abrego Garcia and more than 200 other men at CECOT.
“If he appears at a port of entry or U.S. Embassy we will facilitate his return,” Ensign said.
Xinis responded that the argument “flies in the face of the plain meaning of the word.”
“The bottom line is it was a very simple directive. My question, that the high court squarely affirmed I can ask, is what have you done? I’ve gotten nothing. I’ve gotten no real response, nor have I gotten any legitimate reason.”
Ticking off a judge generally is not considered a wise courtroom strategy, but once Ensign got started, he could not seem to stop himself. In all fairness, it long has been public knowledge that serving as a lawyer on Donald Trump's behalf is a thankless task:
Ensign also pointed to an Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in which the Central American leader said he would not return Abrego Garcia.
Xinis said she did not understand why the Justice Department submitted a transcript of the meeting, as it did not answer her question about what efforts were being undertaken. A portion of the meeting was on camera, in front of reporters.
“No press release is going to move the court,” she said.
Xinis suggested a fast pace for the depositions and review of discovery — something that would ultimately put her on a path to determining whether to hold anyone from the Trump administration in contempt.
“We’re going to move. There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship and grandstanding,” she said.
“There are no business hours while we do this — there are going to be two intense weeks of discovery,” she added later.
“Cancel vacation, cancel other appointments. I’m usually pretty good about that in my courtroom, but not this time. It won’t be a convenience issue.”
The hearing fell exactly one month since Abrego Garcia was put on a flight to El Salvador, and his family has not been able to reach him since.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, addressed his absence ahead of the hearing, noting how much he was missed by the couple’s three children.
“You should have been here leading our Easter prayers. Instead I find myself pleading the with Trump administration and the Bukele administration: Stop playing political games with the life of Kilmar. Our family is torn apart during this scary time and our children miss their dad so much.”
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