Judge demands to know if the White House is assisting in returning wrongly deported person
The White House is not the White House: When Abrego’s lawyer is not a member of the Alien Enemies Act
There are more than 200 migrants in the prison. Many have been sent there without due process using an obscure wartime law called the Alien Enemies Act to deport large groups of Venezuelans and Salvadorans who the administration says are gang members. The attorney for Abrego said his client is not a member of a gang.
During the Oval Office visit on Monday, Trump said it was up to the Salvadoran government to decide if they would bring him back. Bukele said he would not do that.
In the Oval Office meeting, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the administration had an obligation to give a plane but that Abrego was now in Salvadoran custody.
“What we saw today at the white house should shock everyone who cares about a system of checks and balances,” Crdenas said in a statement. She believed the Supreme Court’s ruling that Abrego was returned is violated by the decision not to return him.
“All of this is a reminder why immigration is the tip of the spear for Trump’s larger assault on key pillars of our democracy and why what’s at stake should alarm Americans of all political persuasions,” she added.
Xinis demands to know if White House is helping return wrongly deported Maryland man: A brief press conference on the case of Abrego Garcia
A Maryland federal judge wants to find out if government officials are acting in “bad faith” in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison.
Judge Paula Xinis on Tuesday called for a two-week process of “expedited discovery,” including questioning government officials under oath, to learn whether the government is doing enough to try to bring him back.
According to the record, every day he is held in CECOT is a day of “irreparable harm”. ” We have to give process to both sides but we are going to move.” People have a zero tolerance for gamesmanship.
One week is allotted for the depositions of Joseph Mazzara, the acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Robert Cerna, the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office director.
The hearing is the first courtroom appearance about Abrego Garcia’s case since Bukele met with President Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, and told reporters that he is not going to “smuggle a terrorist into the United States.”
The U.S. government has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has since designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers dispute that he is a member of the gang, and say he doesn’t have a criminal record.
The DOJ also filed a transcript of Monday’s press conference in the Oval Office. Drew Ensign, a lawyer for the Justice Department, presented the transcript, arguing that the issue of Abrego Garcia was “raised at the highest level” and provided proof the government was trying to “facilitate” his return.
But Judge Xinis called references to the comments made at the White House “nonresponsive” in court about whether the administration is working to release Abrego Garcia from CECOT and ensure that his case is handled as it would have been in the U.S., were he not improperly sent abroad.
Source: Judge demands to know if White House is helping return wrongly deported Maryland man
I’m afraid Abrego Garcia isn’t going to be seen by the White House or the Supreme Court in the conduct of foreign affairs
“If I make a finding of contempt it will be based on the record before me,” she added. “No, I don’t consider the transcript you gave me to be answering the question.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “we are very confident that every action taken by this administration is within the confines of the law.”
The Supreme Court also said that the judge should clarify her decision with due regard for the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.
Focusing on that line of “deference” over foreign policy, several administration officials have argued it’s up to Bukele whether Abrego Garcia is returned.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said during the Oval Office press conference that they would return him with a plane if they wanted to.
A US federal judge wants to know if the White House is acting in “bad faith” in a Maryland man’s case, who was mistakenly sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison. The hearing is the first courtroom appearance about Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s case after he met with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday. Garcia was wrongly deported to El Salvador.