Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked a Maryland judge to put severe sanctions on the Trump Administration over its defiance of earlier court orders to facilitate his return to the United States.
Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March , despite an immigration court order saying he couldn’t be deported there, was returned to the U.S. last week. He’s now in federal custody and facing federal criminal charges in Tennessee that allege he trafficked undocumented immigrants across state lines. He has a court hearing set for Friday where he will enter a plea.
Even before Abrego Garcia’s return to the country, his attorneys have been vocal about the Trump administration’s continued defiance of court orders. But Wednesday night’s request for sanctions might be the most damning yet, with Abrego Garcia’s attorneys arguing that the government’s defiance of court orders constitutes “egregious” conduct.
“The lengths the Government has gone to resist discovery relating to these core questions raises a strong inference that the Government is trying to hide its conduct from the scrutiny of this Court, the Plaintiffs, and the public,” his attorneys wrote. “What the Government improperly seeks to hide must be exposed for all to see.”
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Since Abrego Garcia’s deportation, Maryland Federal District Court Judge Paula Xinis has expressed her own frustration with the administration.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys say the Trump administration’s defiance has “not been subtle” and requested that Xinis sanction the administration with fines, the appointment of a “special master” to investigate the government’s noncompliance, civil contempt of court, and fines.
The attorneys suggest that the Department of Homeland Security’s acting general counsel, Joseph Mazzara, may have given untruthful testimony.
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