Judge Slams Trump Admin for Flouting Abrego Garcia Court Order

The judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, has accused the Trump administration of engaging in “a willful and bad faith refusal” to comply with court orders and discovery obligations related to the case.

In a scathing court order issued Tuesday, Maryland District Court Judge Paula Xinis took a torch to the Trump administration’s continued efforts to keep Abrego Garcia imprisoned in El Salvador, despite having no criminal record and an order barring his deportation to his country of origin because of threats to his life and safety. The judge wrote in a scathing eight-page order that the administration has repeatedly “failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance.” 

“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 wrote. 

The judge ordered Trump administration officials — namely representatives of the Department of Homeland Security — to “provide the specific legal and factual bases for each asserted privilege,” which they say precludes complying with discovery requests from Abrego Garcia’s lawyers by 6 p.m. on Wednesday. 

After the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia and hundreds of other migrants to prisons in El Salvador without due process, they claimed to both the courts and the representatives of the detainees that they had no recourse to bring them back. The White House’s public line to those criticizing the lawless disappearances was to take it up with El Salvador. 

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Trump administration had to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, and ensure that his case was handled “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” 

The administration openly flouted the order, claiming that until El Salvador independently decided to release Abrego Garcia from prison, they could do nothing. 

Xanis took them to task over their stonewalling. 

“Defendants object to certain discovery because they claim the requests are based on the ‘false  premise that the United States can or has been ordered to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador,’” the judge wrote. 

“Defendants — and their counsel — well know that the falsehood lies not in any supposed ‘premise,’ but in their continued mischaracterization of the Supreme Court’s Order […] Defendants’ objection reflects a willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations,” she added, noting that “custody can be joint, and custodial status may be controlled by the Defendants acting in concert with El Salvador.” 

Late Tuesday night, the Trump administration submitted its required status report outlining their efforts to Judge Xenis under a confidentiality seal — one that even Abrego Garcia’s lawyers could not access. Early Wednesday morning, the government submitted an only slightly less confidential request to Xanis for a seven-day stay on discovery proceedings. 

The case has become a thorny emblem of the Trump administrations offensive against civil and human rights, and while the administration has continued to accuse Abrego Garcia of criminality, gang affiliations, and terrorism in their public statements, they have submitted no evidence substantiating their allegations against the Maryland father in a court of law. 

The case has become so intense that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has faced harassment and threats from supporters of Trump and his immigration crackdown in retaliation for her public support of her husband. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Vasquez Sura and her three children — two of whom are disabled — were forced to flee their home to a safe house after the Trump administration published the family’s address in documents baselessly accusing Abrego Garcia of being a human trafficker. 

Trump and his allies have accused those criticizing Abrego Garcia and hundreds of other migrants disappearing into a foreign gulag as supporting terrorism and crime. However, a YouGov survey published on Wednesday found that an overwhelming majority of respondents supported Abrego Garcia being brought back to the United States — by a margin of 50 percent responding “yes,” 28 percent “no,” and 22 percent “not sure.”