A federal judge expressed frustration with Justice Department lawyers at a marathon hearing Friday as she weighed the Trump administration’s efforts to send to Africa Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man previously deported to El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia is back in the United States in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, but he remains protected from deportation to his home country.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is weighing arguments from Abrego Garcia’s lawyers that the administration is illegally punishing their client by floating various African countries that won’t accept him rather than oblige his demand to be removed to Costa Rica instead.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argue the judge should release their client. The judge will issue a ruling in writing later.
“They have spun the globe and picked various places they can identify, whether it’s to troll him for political purposes, essentially to fail on purpose by selecting places that would be completely unpalatable for Mr. Abrego Garcia,” attorney Andrew Rossman said.
In August, the government signaled it would remove Abrego Garcia to Uganda. After he expressed claims of fear, he was notified last month the government was looking to send him to the small, landlocked African country of Eswatini.
It led Xinis to demand the Trump administration bring to her Greenbelt, Md., courtroom Friday a witness with personal knowledge of the steps being taken so she can better assess the situation.
The government chose John Schultz, who has worked at Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than two decades and oversees removal operations in Africa and other regions.
During roughly four hours of testimony, Schultz revealed that the ask for Eswatini to accept Abrego Garcia did not take place until this past Wednesday evening. Schultz said the country declined, but “discussions are ongoing.”
“The final decision is made when the manifest is sent over, and no cases have been denied after a manifest has been sent over,” Schultz said.
After Uganda and Eswatini, Abrego Garcia recently received notice the government was intending to deport him to Ghana, but Ghana’s foreign minister hours before the hearing made clear on social media the country “is not accepting Abrego Garcia.”
Schultz testified the notice was “prematurely sent.”
His testimony left Xinis frustrated. She told Justice Department lawyers afterward they had “ignored” her order by choosing a witness who knew “less than nothing” about Abrego Garcia’s request to be sent to Costa Rica.
“If the government has not done anything to effectuate the one place he says he’ll go and the one place they say will take him, how can I find you’re really pursuing this?” Xinis quipped.
The Justice Department points to Abrego Garcia’s previous suggestion he feared persecution in more than 20 countries, which included Costa Rica.
“That is still potentially a live issue, although I’ll acknowledge the clarity given in court today could change the analysis,” Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign told the judge.
Xinis, an appointee of former President Obama, has temporarily blocked Abrego Garcia’s deportation until she figures out next steps.
Schultz expressed confidence Abrego Garcia would be deported in as soon as 72 hours if the judge lifts her ruling and Eswatini agrees to take him.
“We could remove him very quickly,” Schultz testified.
Abrego Garcia’s case has emerged as a flashpoint in Trump’s second-term immigration crackdown. His administration accuses Abrego Garcia of being an MS-13 gang member, an allegation he denies.
A Salvadoran national, Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally and lived in Maryland for years. He garnered national attention after the Trump administration in March deported him to a megaprison in El Salvador, despite an immigration order protecting him from being removed there over fears he’d face persecution.
In June, the government flew Abrego Garcia from El Salvador to Tennessee to face felony human smuggling charges. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty and was allowed to return to Maryland pending trial.
Now, Abrego Garcia is back in the custody of immigration authorities, who are detaining him in Pennsylvania as the administration looks to potentially remove him again.