Main: President Donald Trump during an event on energy production in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). Inset: Kilmar Abrego Abrego Garcia in undated photo (CASA).
A federal judge in Maryland was incredulous as the Trump administration continued to defy multiple court orders to produce information regarding the whereabouts of a legal resident who was detained and sent to a notorious work prison in El Salvador due to an “administrative error.” Attorneys for the Justice Department on Friday repeatedly stonewalled U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on her inquiries about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported last month under the administration’s unprecedented use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
The administration defied Xinis’ order despite the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday largely upholding her previous ruling requiring the Justice Department to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the country (and requiring Xinis to clarify what she meant by instructing the DOJ to “effectuate” his return). The high court also noted that the government should “be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps” in connection with Abrego Garcia’s return.
But after refusing to provide the court with any of the requested information in a morning filing submitted nearly an hour late, the administration again rebuffed Xinis during an in-person hearing in her Maryland courtroom.
The hearing began with Xinis summarizing the Supreme Court’s unsigned decision, saying it “made clear what the government must do,” and adding that there was “no need for further briefing” on the matter, according to a courtroom report from investigative journalist Mike Hellgren of Baltimore CBS affiliate WJZ.
The judge then asked why the government did not comply with her earlier order.
“We are still vetting what we can say,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign reportedly said.
Xinis, who was visibly upset per the report, responded that it was not like she was “asking for state secrets.”
“All I know is he’s not here,” she reportedly said. “The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador and now I’m asking a simple question: Where is he?”
Ensign reportedly said he had no information on Abrego Garcia’s location and could not contradict the plaintiff’s assertion that he was in El Salvador. He added that the Justice Department was “still internally reviewing the Supreme Court’s decision” and “vetting” what it could say to the court.
An already frustrated Xinis had addressed that point in a written order Friday morning, saying that the Trump administration’s “suggestion that they need time to meaningfully review a four-page order [from the Supreme Court] that reaffirms this basic principle [that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was illegal] blinks at reality.”
Per her written order, the judge demanded to know what steps the Justice Department had taken to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, sparking another testy exchange, according to Politico reporter Kyle Cheney.
“The defendants are not yet prepared to share that information,” Ensign reportedly responded.
“That means they’ve done nothing,” Xinis said in retort. “The irreparable harm continues. I’m not sure what to take from the fact that the Supreme Court has spoken quite clearly, and yet I can’t get an answer today.”
Ensign reportedly suggested that Xinis give the government until Tuesday to provide her with some answers, but noted that the response might “include assertions of privilege.”
The back-and-forth again returned to the high court’s Thursday ruling.
“We’re not going to slow-walk this,” Xinis said, per Cheney. “We’re not relitigating what the Supreme Court has already put to bed.”
“We read the Supreme Court’s order differently,” Ensign reportedly said.
Xinis also addressed this issue in the written order from earlier in the day, referring to the justices saying that her original deadline to have Abrego Garcia back in the U.S. by April 7 was “no longer effective.”
Xinis previously wrote:
“[T]he Defendants misconstrue the Supreme Court’s Order stating that the original deadline at ECF No. 21 is ‘no longer effective,’ as somehow suggesting that the Court’s amended Order requiring prompt attention to this matter is ‘inconsistent’ with the Supreme Court’s directive. Nothing could be further from the truth. As the Supreme Court plainly stated, ‘the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps,’ — all against the backdrop of this Court’s needing to ‘ensure that the Government lives up to its obligations to follow the law.””
After a lawyer for Abrego Garicia reportedly said it was “quite clear the government is playing a game with its own lawyers,” Xinis ordered the government to provide the court with daily updates on the status of the case to “make a record of what the government is doing and is not doing.”
“We are not able to meet the court’s deadlines because they are impractical,” Ensign reportedly replied. The judge said that the government can then say that to the court and the American public every day.
The daily updates require the government to provide the same information Xinis had been requesting, including:
- The current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia
- What steps, if any, Defendants have taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s immediate return to the United States
- What additional steps Defendants will take, and when, to facilitate his return.
Xinis also reportedly said she wants sworn declarations from Trump administration officials, which Ensign objected to. The judge said she would issue a written order soon.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
