Judge scolds DOJ for demanding delay in mistakenly deported man case

The federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to try to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, scolded the Justice Department for demanding more time to update the court on next steps. 

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday evening that upheld the thrust of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s order, she scheduled a Friday hearing in her Greenbelt, Md., courtroom at 1 p.m. EDT. 

The Justice Department asked Xinis to postpone the hearing until next Wednesday and delay a Friday morning deadline to provide a written update, saying the timeline was “impracticable.” 

The judge agreed to give the government two additional hours to provide the written update but declined to move the hearing, chastising the Justice Department for its demand.

“First, the Defendants’ act of sending Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was wholly illegal from the moment it happened, and Defendants have been on notice of the same,” Xinis wrote. 

She went on to say that the government’s suggestion that it needs “time to meaningfully review a four-page Order that reaffirms this basic principle blinks at reality.” 

The Trump administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador last month, blaming it on an “administrative error,” but it insists the courts have no authority to order his return since he is now in Salvadoran custody. 

The Supreme Court’s ruling directed the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return while cautioning Xinis to provide “deference” to the executive branch’s authority over foreign affairs. 

Whether the man will be returned is set to come to a head at the hearing before Xinis, an appointee of former President Obama. 

In court filings Friday, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys called the government’s delay request a “stunning display of arrogance and cruelty.” 

“The Government continues to delay, obfuscate, and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk,” wrote Jonathan Cooper, a partner at Quinn Emanuel who represents Abrego Garcia.