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Case Insights

• U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis denied the Justice Department's motion to dismiss Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawsuit, calling the government's arguments "meritless" and questioning their handling of his case.
• The validated MS-13 gang member was deported to El Salvador's maximum-security CECOT prison in March, then returned to the U.S. in June for human trafficking charges without court notification.
• Judge Xinis expressed concern about the government's lack of transparency and warned that Abrego Garcia could be "spirited away again" without stipulated protections.

By Samuel Lopez – USA Herald

A federal judge delivered a sharp rebuke to the Justice Department this week, denying their motion to dismiss a high-profile deportation lawsuit while questioning the government's handling of Abrego’s case.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis didn't mince words when addressing Justice Department attorney Bridget O'Hickey during proceedings involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national whose deportation and subsequent return to the U.S. has sparked significant legal controversy.

"You made three arguments, defendants, and none are availing … meritless," Judge Xinis told O'Hickey, firmly rejecting the government's attempt to dismiss the case.

The legal drama began in mid-March when Abrego Garcia was deported from the United States to El Salvador and immediately detained in CECOT, the country's notorious maximum-security prison. As a validated MS-13 gang member, his removal was part of broader immigration enforcement efforts targeting gang affiliations.

However, the case took an unexpected turn when Judge Xinis ordered the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. The government initially claimed it lacked the power to bring him back, filing motions stating their inability to comply with the court's directive.

Less than a week later, the government transported Abrego Garcia back to the United States and immediately indicted him on human trafficking charges in Tennessee – all, according to Judge Xinis, without notifying the court or his attorneys.

"Obviously you did have power to produce Mr. Abrego because you produced him less than a week later," Judge Xinis pointedly observed, referencing the May 21 sealed indictment that came just six days after the government claimed powerlessness.

Judge Xinis expressed serious concerns about the Justice Department's handling of the case, particularly their failure to inform her court about ongoing plans to investigate and prosecute Abrego Garcia.

"I found it highly problematic that there had been a plan by the government to investigate Abrego Garcia and bring him back for prosecution without informing her court that it was doing so," Xinis stated during the proceedings.

The judge's frustration was palpable when she questioned whether the department's attorneys knew about the Tennessee indictment while arguing they couldn't return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.

"At some point, don't you have an obligation to me to say, 'Judge, we have the power, we produced him, moot,'" she asked O'Hickey.