A Maryland judge on Wednesday refused to give the Trump administration another extension to provide information on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to a Salvadoran prison in what the government called an “administrative error.”
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis — who ordered the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return — has sparred with the Trump administration for weeks. She ordered expedited discovery on any steps the administration has taken to bring back Abrego Garcia, and accused the administration of a “bad faith refusal” to answer questions last week.
Xinis delayed the discovery process for seven days last week. But she declined the Trump administration’s request for another delay Wednesday, signing a new order directing the Trump administration to “answer and respond to all outstanding discovery requests” by Monday. She also set a new timetable of deadlines over the next two weeks.
The government’s reasons for requesting delays — and Xinis’ reasons for denying — remain unknown because the administration’s motion was sealed from public view.
What’s next in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
Xinis will allow the depositions of four government officials — Robert Cema, Evan Katz, Michael Kozak and Joseph Mazzara — “no later than Friday, May 9.”
Cerna, a field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, previously swore under oath that Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador was an “administrative error…This was an oversight.” In 2019, a judge forbade Abrego Garcia from being sent to El Salvador, citing a fear he could be persecuted by gangs there.
The other three staffers also filed court papers in Abrego Garcia’s case. Katz was an ICE official, Kozak worked at the State Department and Mazzara was deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security.
Xinis ordered that, “By no later than Wednesday, May 7, plaintiffs may move for leave of court to conduct two additional depositions of individuals with knowledge and authority to testify regarding the matters.”
Judge Xinis criticizes government
Prior to granting a stay last week in the discovery process, Xinis largely rejected the Trump administration’s claims that it had adequately answered questions from Abrego Garcia’s legal team, writing the government showed a “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”
Xinis has taken issue with the government’s position that it cannot take action to return Abrego Garcia because he is in the custody of El Salvador. She also accused the government of mischaracterizing a Supreme Court order requiring it to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return — largely upholding an order by Xinis.
The judge had strong words for the government’s argument that it cannot divulge certain information because it is privileged.
She wrote, “For weeks, Defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court’s orders. Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions. That ends now.”
Xinis also asked Abergo Garcia’s attorneys to limit the scope of some of their questions, writing, “The request for ‘the identity and role of every U.S. official or employee with knowledge of the facts alleged in the complaint,’ as well as those involved in any submission to this Court, the Fourt Circuit or the Supreme Court, is too broad to extract a meaningful and timely response.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation
Abrego Garcia was arrested by ICE agents in Prince George’s County with his child in the car. He was near his home after leaving his job as a sheet metal apprentice in Baltimore on March 12.
He was then transported to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, mega-prison, part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to send migrants it accuses of gang membership to CECOT. Abrego Garcia was later transferred to a different Salvadoran prison.
Since then, the government has acknowledged Abrego Garcia’s removal was an error due to the 2019 order barring him from being sent to El Salvador. But the Trump administration hasn’t brought him back, and has accused him of belonging to the gang MS-13, which his lawyers deny.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen continues to call for Abrego Garcia’s return
Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen drew worldwide attention when he visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador earlier this month.
He spoke about the case on the Senate floor Wednesday.
“Members can look the other way and cannot deny the fact that this is happening as we speak today, and I would urge every senator to recognize the threat to everybody’s rights under the Constitution,” Van Hollen said.
He also read the letter he sent to President Trump this week.
“I am not vouching for Mr. Abrego Garcia, but I am vouching for his constitutional right to due process, because if Donald Trump can ignore court orders and trample over the rights of one man, he threatens the rights of everyone who lives in the United State of America,” Van Hollen told his fellow senators.
Trump, Cabinet defend actions in Abrego Garcia case
The Trump administration has pushed back on demands that it bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “This is the president’s decision and the White House’s decision, so we follow his direction and his legal scholars and attorneys. [Abrego Garcia] is not under our control. He is an El Salvador citizen. He is home there in his country. If he were to be brought back to the United States of America, we would immediately deport him again.”
This week, President Trump told ABC News that Abrego Garcia, “is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland.”
He brought up allegations that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent MS-13 gang, which Abrego Garcia’s lawyers and family deny, noting he has not been charged with a crime.
Mr. Trump told ABC News he has the power to call on El Salvador to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., “and if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would, but he’s not.”
The president also said, “I’m not the one making this decision.”
At a cabinet meeting Wednesday, a reporter asked Mr. Trump whether the president of El Salvador would turn down a request to let Abrego Garcia leave the country.
“I don’t know,” the president said. “I haven’t spoken to him. I really leave that to the lawyers.”
At that same meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked if he had direct talks with Salvadoran officials over the Abrego Garcia case.
“I would never tell you that, and you know who else I’d never tell? A judge,” Rubio said. “Because the conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the President of the United States and the executive branch – not some judge.”
Who is Judge Xinis?
Xinis was nominated to the U.S. District Court in Maryland in 2015 by former President Barack Obama. She was confirmed in 2016, and serves at the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Yale Law graduate has strong ties to Baltimore. She served as a federal public defender before joining the law firm of Murphy, Falcon and Murphy in 2011. She became a partner in 2013.
The firm’s founding partner, Billy Murphy, has handled many high-profile cases, including representing the family of Freddie Gray after he died while in the custody of Baltimore police a decade ago.
Her official biography said while at Murphy’s firm, Xinis “handled complex civil actions as well as mass and class actions in state and federal court.
