Following Abrego Garcia’s return Friday, the Trump administration filed a notice of compliance with Judge Xinis saying it had “successfully facilitated Abrego Garcia’s return” and asking that the complaint be dismissed.
In Sunday’s filing, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said Maryland case it not over until the government is “held accountable” for “its blatant, willful, and persistent violations of court orders at excruciating cost to Abrego Garcia and his family.”
Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told police they had been working construction in Missouri.
In Sunday’s court filing, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys called the government’s return of Abrego Garcia to face criminal charges “its latest act of contempt.”
Judge Xinis in April ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery in order to resolve Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation.
In a court filing, his lawyers called it “pure farce” to describe the Trump administration as “having complied” with a federal judge’s order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported.
On Sunday, two days after Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States, the filing was made. S. . after a string of legal disputes in which the Trump administration repeatedly claimed it couldn’t bring him back, from his home country of El Salvador to Tennessee to face criminal charges.
In April, U. S. . Following Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March, despite a 2019 court order prohibiting his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution, District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the United States. The Trump administration claimed that Garcia was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, a claim that his wife and attorneys dispute.
Later, the U.S. upheld the Maryland decision. US Supreme Court.
Following Abrego Garcia’s return on Friday, the Trump administration sent Judge Xinis a notice of compliance requesting that the complaint be dismissed and stating that it had “successfully facilitated Abrego Garcia’s return.”.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia stated in their filing on Sunday that the Maryland case will not be resolved until the government is “held accountable” for “its blatant, willful, and persistent violations of court orders at excruciating cost to Abrego Garcia and his family.”. Despite his return, they contended, the case is “not moot” because the court still has an obligation “to ensure that [Abrego Garcia’s] case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”. “,”.
According to the attorneys, the Trump administration “has openedly disregarded its coequal branch of government, the judiciary, in addition to acting in contempt of numerous court orders.”. “,”.
“For the past two months, defendants have engaged in a complex, all-of-government effort to discredit Abrego Garcia, violate court orders, and deny due process, instead of facilitating his return,” they said.
Abrego Garcia is accused of taking part in a multi-year scheme to transport undocumented migrants from Texas to the country’s interior, including the domestic transportation of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars, according to a two-count indictment that was unsealed on Friday.
As federal investigators began examining the facts of a 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the criminal investigation that resulted in the charges was initiated in April, according to sources. Abrego Garcia told police that they had been working construction in Missouri when they were stopped for speeding in a car carrying eight people.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers described the government’s decision to bring him back to face criminal charges as “its latest act of contempt” in a court filing on Sunday. “.
The government “arranged for Abrego Garcia’s return, not to Maryland in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive to ‘ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,’ but to Tennessee so that he could be charged with a crime in a case that the Government only developed while it was under threat of sanctions,” they said.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers claimed in the filing that the Trump administration “continued to insist” that they lacked the authority to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. A. even following the May filing of the Tennessee indictment under seal. The attorneys argued that the Trump administration “has always had the ability to return Abrego Garcia.”.
According to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s announcement Friday afternoon that Abrego Garcia was back in the United States, “The Government’s convenient ability to return Abrego Garcia in time for a press conference unveiling his indictment puts the lie to its previously feigned powerlessness to comply with this Court’s injunction,” they said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC News during Friday’s press conference that he thought the Maryland case was now moot, according to a Justice Department official who was asked for comment.
“What the state of play was before the indictment and after the indictment is very different,” Blanche stated. Therefore, the reason he returned was due to an arrest warrant that was submitted to El Salvador’s government. There is a significant difference there, and I believe that it renders the current Maryland litigation moot. “.”.
Given the Trump administration’s “continuing threat of removal,” Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said the case “remains live” and that they have the right to investigate in discovery whether government officials acted in good faith. In order to address Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation, Judge Xinis in April mandated that government representatives testify under oath through expedited discovery.
This report was compiled by James Hill, Katherine Faulders, and Alexander Mallin of ABC News.
