Trump interview cited as evidence by Abrego Garcia lawyers
In a recent court filing, lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are using comments made by former President Donald Trump during an ABC News interview as evidence to assert that the U.S. government has the authority to facilitate their client’s return from El Salvador following his mistaken deportation. trump acknowledged the possibility of contacting Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to secure Abrego Garcia’s return, despite justifying the prior deportation due to national security concerns.
Abrego Garcia, who was deported by the Trump governance but had previously been granted protection from deportation due to threats from rival gangs, was mistakenly included in a deportation group. A judge initially ordered the government to assist in his return, but a Supreme Court ruling later complicated this directive, debating whether the government is required to take active steps or merely remain open to his return.
The attorneys argue that the government’s claims of national security being compromised by sharing facts are inconsistent and are being used to evade accountability.They point to public comments from various administration officials opposing Abrego Garcia’s return as evidence that the secrecy claims are unfounded. A hearing is scheduled for the future to determine the next legal steps in this ongoing dispute.
Trump interview cited as evidence by Abrego Garcia lawyers seeking migrant’s return to US
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are pointing to recent public comments from President Donald Trump as proof that the administration has the authority to return their client from El Salvador but is choosing not to.
In a court filing this week, the legal team cited Trump’s response in an ABC News interview in late April, in which he acknowledged he “could” call Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to secure Abrego Garcia’s return. “If [Bukele] were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that,” Trump said, while also defending the decision to deport Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration acknowledged that it deported Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member and illegal immigrant, to El Salvador by mistake. A judge had ruled years earlier that Abrego Garcia could be deported, but not to his home country.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said in the new filings that the president’s public comments undercut the administration’s courtroom claim that national security concerns justify withholding further information in the case. “Over and over again, official statements by the Government—in congressional testimony, television interviews, and social media—confirm that producing this information would not imperil national security,” the lawyers told District Judge Paula Xinis in their filing.
The interview citation came one day before the Justice Department moved to seal its court-ordered privilege log, citing “ongoing diplomatic negotiations” with El Salvador. The log outlines what materials the administration is refusing to disclose under state secrets and executive privilege. DOJ officials said making those details public “would likely harm” U.S. foreign relations and insisted the material is protected under a stipulated confidentiality order.
Abrego Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, was granted a form of legal protection from deportation to El Salvador in 2019 due to threats from Barrio 18, a rival gang to MS-13. But in March, the Trump administration admitted Abrego Garcia was mistakenly included in a group of migrants deported to the CECOT prison in El Salvador. He has since been moved to a lower-security facility.
Though Xinis initially ordered the administration to “facilitate” and “effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return on April 4, a ruling partially upheld by the Supreme Court three days later, the parties have since sparred over the extent of that obligation, specifically on whether the government must take active steps to help Abrego Garcia back into the country or whether the order simply required the U.S. government to be willing to accept Abrego Garcia should El Salvador volunteer to return him. The judge accused the administration last month of a “willful and bad-faith refusal” to comply with discovery orders.
The DOJ has argued in court filings that it has already provided “robust” responses and that further disclosures would not aid the case. But Abrego Garcia’s legal team contends the secrecy claims are being used to avoid accountability. “The state secrets privilege is not for hiding governmental blunders or malfeasance,” they wrote in a Monday filing.
DEMOCRATS BERATE NOEM FOR NOT FACILITATING RETURN OF DEPORTED ABREGO GARCIA
Public comments from Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem opposing Abrego Garcia’s return have also been cited in court as further evidence that secrecy claims are inconsistent with the administration’s own conduct.
Xinis has scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon in Greenbelt, Maryland, to weigh the next steps in the deportation dispute.
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