U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis imposed a new deadline on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to answer questions in the deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, while blasting Noem for engaging in “willful and intentional noncompliance.”
Why It Matters
Abrego Garcia was arrested in 2019 and has since been accused of being a member of the MS-13 El Salvadoran gang, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
He has denied being in the gang, along with his lawyer, but two judges, in separate rulings, concluded that he was an MS-13 member, based on confidential information provided to the court.
Nonetheless, he was shielded from deportation to his native country because he said that he would be a target of MS-13’s gang rivals. Abrego Garcia was ultimately deported to El Salvador after being arrested last month in what Trump administration lawyers called an “administrative error.”
His family denies any ties to gangs and Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the United States. In 2021, his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, accused him of domestic violence and filed paperwork to obtain a restraining order, but says they have since reconciled.
In an exclusive statement to Newsweek, Vasquez Sura said, in part: “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.
“Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect.”
What To Know
In an order on Tuesday, Xinis ordered Noem to “answer and respond to all outstanding discovery requests and supplement its invocation of privilege as directed by no later than 6:00 PM April 23, 2025.”
Xinis ripped Noem for asserting “privilege” as grounds for not answering questions related to the case, adding that it was invoked by the administration “without providing any supporting information or analysis.”
The judge also said, “As Defendants and their counsel know, the proponent of a privilege must demonstrate the legal and factual bases to invoke the protections that such privilege affords.”
Amid the scathing order, Xinis also accused Noem of refusing to comply with the court’s orders, saying, “Defendants have failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance.”
Amid the legal wrangling, Abrego Garcia’s deportation case has gripped the nation and Washington, D.C., as numerous Democratic lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to begin conversations regarding his return to the U.S.
The Supreme Court previously ordered the administration to help facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, in a unanimous ruling. Since the order, the administration has since been accused of defying the High Court’s ruling.
Xinis pointed to the Supreme Court order in her own ruling, saying that the Trump administration has continued to mischaracterize the justices’ order.
“That Order made clear that this Court ‘properly required the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,'” Xinis wrote.
What People Are Saying
A DHS spokesperson told Newsweek via email when reached for comment: “The Trump administration will fight this all the way up to the Supreme Court, if necessary. We have the law, the facts, the Constitution, and common sense on our side. The Supreme Court has already said that our Commander-in-Chief Donald J. Trump has the power to stop the invasion of our country by terrorists using war time powers. One lone, unelected activist judge cannot stop the will of the American people for a safe and secure homeland.”
Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey posted this month to X, formerly Twitter: “The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the Trump administration must facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The story of his detainment is horrifying, all of us must share his story and demand his quick and safe return. An assault on the due process rights of anyone is a threat to the due process rights of everyone.”
Vice President JD Vance on X last week: “Call me crazy but if you got two hearings and a valid deportation order then you shouldn’t be in the United States.”
Trump, on Truth Social on Monday: “This is the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that the Courts are trying to save from being deported? He was supposed to be, according to the Judge and the Democrats, a wonderful father from Maryland, but then they noticed he had ‘MS-13’ tattooed onto his knuckles (and lots of really bad stories about his past!). This is the gang that is, perhaps, the worst of them all. What is wrong with our Country?”
