Judge Pauses Order for Details on Any Efforts to Return Abrego Garcia to US

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily halted her order requiring the Trump administration to provide information on its efforts so far, if any, to retrieve a man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, filed a sealed motion requesting a seven-day stay of the judge’s directive for the U.S. to provide testimony and documents that involve plans to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The administration is also seeking relief from having to file daily updates on its progress.

Lawyers for Abrego Garcia filed a response in opposition to the government’s motion to halt the order. It was also under seal in the Maryland federal court.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis granted the stay until April 30, but her order did not make any changes to the required daily status updates. She didn't explain her legal reasoning, but wrote that it was made “with the agreement of the parties.”

The administration expelled Abrego Garcia to El Salvador last month, and officials later described the mistake as “an administrative error” — but insisted that Abrego Garcia was in fact a member of the MS-13 gang.

The Wednesday evening order came just one day after Xinis castigated the administration's lawyers in a written filing Tuesday for ignoring her orders, obstructing the legal process and acting in “bad faith” by refusing to provide information.

The U.S. has claimed that much of the information is protected because it involves state secrets, government deliberations and attorney client privilege. But Xinis has rejected the argument and demanded that the Trump administration provide specific justifications for each claim of privileged information by 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, did not directly address the judge’s comments from Tuesday when asked by reporters at the White House on Wednesday. But he reiterated the administration's position that Abrego Garcia will be detained and deported again if he were to be returned to the U.S.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration nearly two weeks ago to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., rejecting the White House’s claim that it couldn’t retrieve him after mistakenly deporting him.

Trump administration officials have pushed back, arguing that it is up to El Salvador — though the president of El Salvador has also said he lacks the power to return Abrego Garcia. The administration has also argued that information about any steps it has taken or could take to return Abrego Garcia is protected by attorney-client privilege laws, state secret laws, general “government privilege” or other secrecy rules.

But Xinis said those claims, without any facts to back them up, reflected a “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”