The Trump administration confirmed to a federal judge Saturday that a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported last month remains confined in a notorious prison in El Salvador.
But the government's filing did not address the judge's demands that the administration detail what steps it was taking to return to the United States. The government said only that Abrego Garcia, 29, is under the authority of the El Salvador government.
Abrego Garcia's location was confirmed to the court by Michael G. Kozak, who identified himself in the filing as a 鈥淪enior Bureau Official鈥 in the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
The filing comes one day after a U.S. government attorney struggled in a hearing to provide U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis with any information about Abrego Garcia鈥檚 whereabouts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration must bring him back.
Xinis issued an order Friday requiring the administration to disclose Abrego Garcia's 鈥渃urrent physical location and custodial status鈥 and 鈥渨hat steps, if any, Defendants have taken (and) will take, and when, to facilitate鈥 his return.
鈥淚t is my understanding based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador,鈥 Kozak鈥檚 statement said. 鈥淗e is alive and secure in that facility. He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador.鈥
Kozak's statement did not address the judge's latter requirements.
Xinis was exasperated Friday with the government's lack of information.
鈥淲here is he and under whose authority?鈥 the judge asked during the hearing. 鈥淚鈥檓 not asking for state secrets. All I know is that he鈥檚 not here. The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador, and now I鈥檓 asking a very simple question: Where is he?鈥
The judge repeatedly asked a government attorney about what has been done to return Abrego Garcia, asking pointedly: 鈥淗ave they done anything?鈥
Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, told Xinis that he had no personal knowledge about any actions or plans to return Abrego Garcia. But he told the judge the government was 鈥渁ctively considering what could be done鈥 and said that Abrego Garcia鈥檚 case involved three Cabinet agencies and significant coordination.
Before the hearing ended, Xinis ordered the U.S. to provide daily status updates on plans to return Abrego Garcia.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond Saturday evening to an Associated Press request for comment.
Abrego Garcia for roughly 14 years, during which he worked construction, got married and was raising three children with disabilities, according to court records.
If he is returned, he will get to face the allegations that prompted his expulsion: a 2019 accusation from local police in Maryland that he was an MS-13 gang member.
Abrego Garcia denied the allegation and was never charged with a crime, his attorneys said. A U.S. immigration judge subsequently shielded him from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs that terrorized his family.
The Trump administration deported him there last month anyway, later as 鈥渁n administrative error鈥 but insisting he was in MS-13.
