The US government has kept his return to his mother, telling the court that those who were mistakenly deported remained trapped in the infamous prison.
The Trump administration admitted before federal court that immigrants who were mistakenly deported last month remained locked up in the infamous prison in El Salvador, but refused to say what stages they were taking to get him back to the United States.
In a court filing Saturday, the US State Department said Kilmer Abrego Garcia was “living and safe” in prison, and that he is under the authority of the Salvadoran government.
Abrego Garcia, 29, lived in Maryland for 14 years before President Donald Trump was mistakenly sent to El Salvador along with more than 200 other people as part of a widespread crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Since then, the US Supreme Court has issued an order requesting the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.
The latest State Department application comes after a government lawyer struggled at the hearing to provide District Judge Paula Sini with information about Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts.
Judge Sinis issued an order on Friday requiring the administration to disclose Abrego Garcia’s “current physical location and custody status” and “what procedures are disclosed at the stages taken by the defendant. [and] When and when will he promote his return?
Michael G. Kozak has identified him as the “senior director of the State Department’s Western Hemisphere Department, and in his latest submission, he said Abrego Garcia is “living” and “living” at the El Salvador facility.
“He is being detained in accordance with the sovereignty of the national authorities of El Salvador.”
On Friday, Xinis was angry at the government’s lack of information.
“Where is he and whose authority is he?” the judge said at the hearing.
“I’m not seeking the secrets of the state. All I know is that he’s not here. The government was forbidden from sending him to El Salvador. Now I’m asking a very simple question.
The judge repeatedly asked government lawyers what was done to return Abrego Garcia, saying, “Did they do something?”
Deputy aide, Attorney General Drew Ensign, also told Xinis he had no knowledge of the actions or plans to return Garcia.
Ensign told the judge that the government is “actively considering what it can do,” saying that the Abrego Garcia case includes three cabinet bodies and important coordination.
Court records show Abrego Garcia lived in the United States for about 14 years, working in construction, married and raising three children with disabilities.
If he is returned, he will face allegations urging him to expel: a 2019 charge from local Maryland police that he is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Abrego Garcia denied the allegations and was not charged with the crime, his lawyer said.
The controversy comes as Trump is scheduled to meet El Salvador President Naive Buquere at the White House on Monday.
Asked on Friday when Trump met Buquere, if he would seek Abrego Garcia’s return, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said the Supreme Court’s ruling made clear that the administration’s responsibility was to “promote” Garcia’s return.
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