As White House Doubles Down, Judge Launches Inquiry of Refusal to Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia

As White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday had a "full-blown meltdown" after a reporter asked about the Maryland man wrongly deported to a prison in his native El Salvador, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis launched an inquiry into the Trump administration's refusal to seek the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States.

The Trump administration has previously admitted in court that Abrego Garcia was mistakenly sent to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT)—despite an immigration judge's 2019 order barring his deportation to El Salvador—due to an administrative error. Xinis ordered the administration to facilitate his release, a decision unanimously affirmed last week by the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, Abrego Garcia remained imprisoned as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in a Sunday filing that Xinis has "no authority" to compel the administration to bring him home, and as President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to the White House. Their meeting was followed by a Tuesday court hearing.

According to NBC News: "Attorneys for Abrego Garcia had asked that the administration be found in contempt of court over its inaction. The judge said she wants to review the evidence the administration submits, which is expected to include sworn depositions, before ruling on the matter."

During the hearing, Drew Ensign of the DOJ told Xinis—who was appointed to the District of Maryland by former President Barack Obama—that if Abrego Garcia "appears at a port of entry or U.S. Embassy we will facilitate his return."

Meanwhile, the judge called out the administration, saying: "What the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing. I asked for reports from individuals with direct knowledge, and I've gotten very little information of any value."

"We're going to move. There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding," Xinis continued. "There are no business hours while we do this… Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments. I'm usually pretty good about things like that in my court, but not this time. So, I expect all hands on deck."

At the White House on Tuesday, a reporter asked Leavitt who is responsible for Abrego Garcia and where he is going to end up. The press secretary responded by sharing unfounded allegations that he is a "terrorist" and member of the gang MS-13, and said that "deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result."

Leavitt also used Bukele's framing from the Oval Office event, when he suggested that returning the Maryland resident would mean smuggling a terrorist into the country. In addition to Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to CECOT, and the president on Monday expressed interest in sending "homegrown" American prisoners there.

"This is what mass deportation looks like," Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of the advocacy group America's Voice, said in a Tuesday statement. "The concept of stripping citizenship from U.S. citizens and sending them to El Salvador prisons without due process is the stuff of nightmares and undemocratic regimes, yet here we are."

"It's hard to overstate what the stakes are for our democracy and core American principles given what we're seeing and what the administration is now floating as the next steps in their larger deportation agenda," Cárdenas added. "And it's time Americans of all political perspectives stand up and speak out in opposition."

Some Democrats in Congress have blasted the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda and are part of the battle to bring Abrego Garcia home—including U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who is aiming to travel to El Salvador if the deported man is not swiftly returned to his state. Multiple Democratic members of the House of Representatives have signaled that they plan to join the trip.