Four Trump administration officials must also participate in depositions for the case by May 9, the judge said.

The orders came as part of a contentious lawsuit brought by Abrego Garcia’s wife, who said he must be returned to the United States and undergo the typical deportation process after the government admitted in court papers to mistakenly deporting him to a Salvadoran prison because of a paperwork error.

Information has dripped out into the public since his deportation last month that indicates Abrego Garcia has a checkered past despite having no criminal charges or convictions. His wife accused him of hitting her at least once, law enforcement suspected in 2022 that he trafficked illegal immigrants, and an immigration judge observed in 2019 that the Department of Homeland Security had reliable information that he belonged to MS-13.

Still, Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador was erroneous, the government said. The Salvadoran migrant entered the country illegally around 2012 but later received legal protection that barred his removal to El Salvador and left open the option to deport him to other countries.

In light of the deportation error, the Supreme Court ordered the government to “facilitate” his release from detention in El Salvador, and now Xinis has been pressing the government for information on how it is fulfilling that order.

The Department of Justice previously refused to provide the court with discovery materials about Abrego Garcia and asserted numerous privileges to justify withholding information, including attorney-client and state secrets privileges.

Xinis, a former President Barack Obama appointee, called the privilege invocations “specious” and said DOJ attorneys must elaborate on them by Monday.

Xinis’s orders came after she paused collecting discovery in the case for seven days in response to the DOJ’s request for a stay. The DOJ asked for another stay on Tuesday, but Xinis denied it. The details surrounding the requests and the judge’s decision to halt and resume the case remain under seal.

The Trump administration has said repeatedly that it cannot dictate what El Salvador does with its prisoners, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele told a reporter during an Oval Office visit that he had no interest in sending Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.

Trump appeared to contradict that messaging during an interview with ABC News that aired Tuesday. He argued that Abrego Garcia was “not an innocent wonderful gentleman from Maryland.”

JUDGE ALLOWS TEMPORARY PAUSE IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION CASE

“I’m not saying he’s a good guy. It’s about the rule of law,” the reporter replied, motioning toward a phone on Trump’s desk and saying the president could easily pick it up and arrange for Abrego Garcia’s return.

“And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that, but he’s not. … I’m not the one making this decision. We have lawyers that don’t want to do this,” Trump shot back.