Judge blasts Trump, Noem for saying Abrego Garcia won't 'return' to U.S.

The federal judge working to un-deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia unloaded on the Trump administration Friday, saying statements that the MS-13 gang suspect won’t “return” to the U.S. suggest the government is defying the court’s orders.

Judge Paula Xinis said the administration has been ducking answers on Mr. Abrego Garcia’s condition and the steps the government has taken to “facilitate” his return, as the Supreme Court has ordered.

And she said top officials, including President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have said they could bring him back but will not.

“You’ve done nothing and now you tell the world you’re not going to do anything,” she said in a hearing Friday.

Judge Xinis called a hearing to talk about the ongoing fight over answers to Mr. Abrego Garcia’s March deportation to El Salvador, his current status in El Salvador, and what the government is doing now.

She had approved legal discovery and depositions where the government was supposed to reveal details of its activities.

The judge said she’s been disappointed by how little the government has shared.

She said the government invoked the state secrets privilege 246 times to shield information, and cited the deliberative process protection some 1,400 more times.

Jonathan David Guynn, the government’s lawyer, said he feels Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have been given enough information to answer the judge’s big questions.

Judge Xinis said they have not. She described the information as “a goose egg.”

Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case has become a major flashpoint in the immigration debate, with Democrats and immigration activists saying his rights were violated by his arrest and deportation.

He came to the U.S. illegally and had a standing deportation order against him. But an immigration judge granted him what’s known as withholding of removal to El Salvador in particular, because he faced the chance of torture.

The Trump administration initially said Mr. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error.

But more recently, the Trump team says the deportation was not illegal because, as an MS-13 member, Mr. Abrego Garcia can no longer qualify for withholding of removal. Even if he were to be brought back, he would be immediately deported again, Ms. Noem said.

The administration also says it has assurances he wouldn’t be tortured in El Salvador, obviating the withholding order.

“He was removed lawfully. He shouldn’t be in the United States,” said Jonathan David Guynn, the Justice Department’s lawyer.

The White House has said El Salvador won’t release Mr. Abrego Garcia. Mr. Trump has said he could bring the man back, but hasn’t seen a need to — and said he’s deferring to his aides.

Ms. Noem testified on Capitol Hill this month that Mr. Abrego Garcia won’t be allowed to return.

“That sounds to me like an admission of your client that your client will not take steps to facilitate the return,” Judge Xinis said.

She said that was “problematic” at a time when the government’s lawyers are telling the court they are trying to facilitate the return.

The judge also pushed back on the new stance that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s removal was legitimate.

She said there is a process for deporting someone to a third country or deporting them despite a withholding of removal order, and the government didn’t follow those rules for Mr. Abrego Garcia.

“He was removed in error,” she said. “His removal from the United States was not lawful.”

Andrew Rossman, lawyer for Mr. Abrego Garcia’s family, urged the judge to keep on it.

“A life is in the balance,” he said.