Judge set for hearing on Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Apr 15, 2025

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A federal judge is set for a hearing Tuesday on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the immigrant from El Salvador who was mistakenly deported by the U.S. government to a notorious megaprison in his homeland.

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis is expected to rule on next steps in the case in which the Supreme Court unanimously backed her ruling and ordered the government to “facilitate” Garcia’s return to the U.S.

President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele have both said they won’t do anything to release Garcia or return him to the U.S., putting the case in limbo.

Xinis might set a new deadline for the U.S. government to secure Garcia’s return, order specific actions or consider holding officials in contempt of court if they do not comply.

Any new order might be appealed back to the Supreme Court, which may clarify its order that tweaked Xinis’s original order to “effectuate” the return of Garcia and replaced the term with the word “facilitate.”

A delegation of Democratic lawmakers led by Sen. Van Hollen, D-Maryland, vowed to journey to El Salvador to press for Garcia’s release and return.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has asserted that the administration is complying with the top court’s edict because it stands ready to fly Garcia back to the U.S. if El Salvador hands him over.

Bukele said he “doesn’t have the power” to free Garcia at a chummy meeting with Trump at the White House, without elaborating.

In a court filing late Monday, Joseph Mazzara, a Department of Homeland Security lawyer, said it “does not have authority to forcibly extract” Abrego Garcia from El Salvador because he is “in the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.”

Mazarra also argued that Abrego Garcia is “no longer eligible for withholding of removal” because the U.S. designated MS-13 as a foreign terror organization. Abergo Garcia’s attorneys say the government has provided no evidence that he was affiliated with MS-13 or any other gang.

Garcia’s case has put a harsh spotlight on the role being played by El Salvador as a crucial partner in Trump’s plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Trump has also suggested he could try to send Americans accused or convicted of crimes to prison in El Salvador, even though legal analysts say that would be unconstitutional.

Hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants were recently sent to the megaprison over allegations of gang membership. The Trump administration has paid Bukele’s government $6 million to jail them for a year.

At least 10 more Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador last weekend. Trump has suggested he plans to send more immigrants deported under the terms of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to the prison.

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