The Trump Administration informed a federal judge on Saturday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident mistakenly deported last month, remains in a well-known El Salvadorian prison.
However, the government’s filing did not detail the steps being taken to return Abrego Garcia, 29, to the U.S., as requested by the judge. The filing only stated that Abrego Garcia is under the jurisdiction of the El Salvador government.
Michael G. Kozak, identified as a “Senior Bureau Official” in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, confirmed Abrego Garcia’s location to the court.
The filing followed a hearing where a U.S. government attorney struggled to provide Judge Paula Xinis with information about Abrego Garcia’s location. The U.S. Supreme Court had previously ruled that the Trump Administration must facilitate his return.
Judge Xinis issued an order Friday requiring the Administration to disclose Abrego Garcia’s “current physical location and custodial status” and detail the actions taken, or planned, to facilitate his return, including a timeline.
“Based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador, Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador,” Kozak stated. “He is alive and secure in that facility and is detained under the sovereign authority of El Salvador.”
Kozak’s statement did not address the judge’s specific requirements regarding the steps to facilitate his return.
Judge Xinis expressed frustration Friday with the government’s lack of information.
“Where is he, and under whose authority?” the judge asked during the hearing. “I’m not asking for state secrets. All I know is that he’s not here. The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador, and now I’m asking a very simple question: Where is he?”
The judge repeatedly questioned a government attorney about efforts to return Abrego Garcia, asking directly: “Have they done anything?”
Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, admitted to Judge Xinis that he lacked personal knowledge of actions or plans for Abrego Garcia’s return. However, he stated that the government was “actively considering what could be done,” noting the case involved coordination between three Cabinet agencies.
Before concluding the hearing, Judge Xinis mandated daily status updates from the U.S. regarding plans for Abrego Garcia’s return.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press on Saturday evening.
Abrego Garcia has resided in the U.S. for about 14 years, working in construction, marrying, and raising three children with disabilities, according to court documents.
Upon his return, he will face allegations of being an MS-13 gang member, stemming from a 2019 accusation by local Maryland police.
Abrego Garcia has denied the allegations, and his attorneys assert that he was never charged with a crime. A U.S. immigration judge had previously protected him from deportation to El Salvador, citing the likelihood of persecution by local gangs who had terrorized his family.
Despite this, the Trump Administration deported him last month, later attributing the action to “an administrative error” while maintaining his affiliation with MS-13.
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