Mistaken deportation case

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The judge presiding over the case of a man who was mistakenly deported by the U.S. government to a prison in El Salvador suggested Tuesday that she was weighing contempt proceedings against the Trump administration.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered administration officials to turn over evidence of their efforts to help bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. since she first ordered them to "facilitate" his return, saying the government had not shown her anything of note on that front.

“I’ve gotten nothing,” Xinis said. “I’ve gotten no real response, and no real legal justification for not answering,” she continued, adding that if the administration is not going to answer her questions “then justify why. That’s what we do in this house.”

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia had asked that the administration be found in contempt of court over its inaction. The judge said she wants to review the evidence the administration submits, which is expected to include sworn depositions, before ruling on the matter.

She ordered officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to sit for the depositions, and for the administration to hand over documents by the end of the month to see what steps its taken to comply with her order.

In a written order after the hearing, Xinis said that if the administration does not comply with that part of her order, Abrego Garcia's lawyers "are free to seek separate sanctions on an expedited basis."

Speaking for the administration, Drew Ensign of the Justice Department said during the hearing that the government had complied with the judge's previous directives. He also said that if Abrego Garcia were to show up at a port of entry, we "would facilitate his return" into the U.S. before taking him into custody.

In her written order, the judge questioned why Abrego Garcia was still "inexplicably detained" in prison. While the government has said he's being detained “pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador,” the "record thus far demonstrates that the United States had paid six-million dollars to house those detainees in custody 'pending the United States’ decision on their long-term disposition.'”

She went on to say that his lawyers could seek answers as to "who authorized his initial placement there and who presently authorizes his continued confinement."

Rina Gandhi, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, said Tuesday's hearing marked "progress."

"This case isn’t about whether Abrego Garcia is a 'terrorist:' This case is about the government unlawfully, and admitting to unlawfully, removing a gentleman from this country, from Maryland, from his home, his family, his his children, and taking no actions, no meaningful steps to fix them, as ordered by the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision," she said outside the courthouse.