A US judge on Tuesday will consider her next steps on what she called the Trump administration’s failure to update her on efforts to return a man illegally deported to El Salvador, in a case critics say shows the administration may choose to defy unfavorable court orders.
The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was deported on March 15 despite an order protecting him from removal, is one of several that have sparked concerns among Democrats and some legal analysts that Republican President Donald Trump’s administration is willing to disregard the judiciary, an independent and equal branch of government.
The hearing before US District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland, was due to begin at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT). Asked about the case on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was complying with all court orders.
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in April 2025, a man identified by Jennifer Vasquez Sura as her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is forced to sit with other prisoners by guards in the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (AP)
“We’re very confident that every action taken by this administration is within the confines of the law,” she said. Legal experts said Xinis at the hearing may ask the administration whether it told El Salvador President Nayib Bukele – who met Trump at the White House on Monday – not to release Abrego Garcia, which could amount to defiance of the court’s order to “facilitate” his return.
“Expect some fireworks,” said Kevin Johnson, a professor at UC Davis School of Law. During the meeting with Bukele on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court.”
Trump at the meeting called reporters asking whether the administration would seek the return of Abrego Garcia “sick people.”
Bukele told reporters at the White House he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the US.
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“The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, echoing the Trump administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, which Washington labels a terrorist organization.
Supporters hold up signs as Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md. (AP)
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have denied he is a gang member, saying the U.S. has presented no credible evidence to support the claim.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a Democrat, said in a statement on Monday that if Abrego Garcia was not home by “midweek,” he would travel to El Salvador to discuss his release.
“Since the Trump administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action,” Van Hollen said.
‘FACILITATE AND EFFECTUATE’
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Xinis on April 4 ordered the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador, where he is being housed in a high-security mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. The U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld that order following a challenge by the Trump administration, but said the term “effectuate” was unclear and might exceed the court’s authority. Xinis then ordered the Trump administration to offer a timeline for returning Abrego Garcia to the US.
After finding the administration did not comply with that order, the judge then ordered the government to provide daily updates about what it was doing to get Abrego Garcia back. On Sunday, the administration told Xinis that “facilitate” meant only that it must remove any domestic obstacles impeding his return to the United States and did not apply to interactions with a foreign nation.
Interpreting “facilitate” as requiring something more than domestic action would flout the Supreme Court’s order, the administration said in a legal filing. Trump has said his administration would bring the man back if the Supreme Court directed it to.
