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 Kilmar Abrego Garcia 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 "Senior Bureau Official" in the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. The filing comes one day after a US government attorney struggled in a hearing to provide US District Judge Paula Xinis with any information about Abrego Garcia's whereabouts. The 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 "current physical location and custodial status" and "what steps, if any, Defendants have taken (and) will take, and when, to facilitate" his return. Kozak's statement did not address the judge's latter requirements. Abrego Garcia has lived in the US 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 denies it.
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