A federal judge has rejected the Trump administration’s request to delay an order that demands a Maryland man, mistakenly sent to a prison in El Salvador, be returned to the U.S.
In a blistering 22-page ruling released Sunday, Judge Paula Xinis gave more details on her decision. She also shot down the Justice Department’s request to pause her order while an appeals court reviews it. The judge had already told the administration to bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back to the United States by Monday.
“As Defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador—let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” Xinis wrote in her opinion.
The judge pointed out the administration’s admission of a “grievous error” and slammed their attempt to argue that she didn’t have the power to intervene.
“Having confessed grievous error, the Defendants now argue that this Court lacks the power to hear this case, and they lack the power to order Abrego Garcia’s return,” Xinis said.
Xinis also took aim at the evidence the government used to justify sending Garcia to El Salvador. She criticized their claim that he was linked to the violent MS-13 gang, calling it based on “a singular unsubstantiated allegation.”
This evidence “consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13’s ‘Western’ clique in New York—a place he has never lived,” she wrote in a footnote.
The ruling highlights the serious mistakes made in Garcia’s deportation and the questionable grounds the government used to justify it. The judge’s firm decision to reject any delay sends a strong message about holding the administration accountable.
