'Lawless': Trump DOJ Defies Supreme Court Order for Return of Man Sent to Salvadoran Prison

The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision on Thursday was clear: The Trump administration was ordered to "facilitate" the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with no criminal record who was among hundreds of migrants rounded up in recent weeks and sent to an El Salvador prison.

But lawyers for President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday insisted they needed more time to "review" the high court's ruling and refused to provide details on when and how they would ensure Abrego Garcia was returned to his family in Maryland.

Drew Ensign, one attorney representing the Trump administration, argued at a hearing Friday afternoon with U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland over the court-ordered requirement that the government "share what it can concerning the steps it has taken" to return Abrego Garcia.

The hearing had been previously scheduled before the Supreme Court handed down its ruling, and went ahead as planned despite the DOJ's request on Friday morning for Xinis to postpone it till next Wednesday.

"Defendants are unable to provide the information requested by the court on the impracticable deadline set by the court hours after the Supreme Court issued its order," wrote the DOJ lawyers in a filing on Friday morning, striking an aggressive tone similar to the one the government displayed in the hearing later.

Immigration attorney Eric Lee said the filing displayed "a lawless government."

Xinis responded to the request by giving the lawyers until 11:30 am—a two-hour extension of the previous deadline—to submit a written declaration of steps the administration is taking for Abrego Garcia, whom they have said was sent to El Salvador due to an "administrative error," claiming that his fate is out of the United States' control.

But she urged the lawyers to keep in mind that the "act of sending Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was wholly illegal from the moment it happened."

At the hearing, she clashed further with Ensign.

The attorney said again that the administration is "not yet prepared to share" more information about Abrego Garcia.

"I'm not asking for state secrets," she replied, demanding "roughly a dozen times," according to The New York Times, that Ensign provide information about the man's exact whereabouts and plans for his return. "Is anyone moving with any kind of speed to get to the bottom of this so I can get an answer?"

Ensign confirmed that the government intends to comply with the Supreme Court's order before the hearing ended after less than half an hour. Xinis ordered the DOJ to provide daily updates about its progress in securing his release.

The White House and the Republican Party have attacked the judiciary numerous times in recent weeks, with calls to impeach judges who have ruled against Trump's agenda—including U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who issued a nationwide restraining order against the president's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to expel suspected gang members to El Salvador.

Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller is among the officials who have pushed the idea that federal judges, in demanding that Trump follow constitutional law, are interfering in "foreign affairs."

The Supreme Court included in its ruling a directive for Xinis to proceed with "due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs," leading Miller to suggest that the White House is still under no obligation to return Abrego Garcia.

"If the United States government is paying El Salvador to imprison people on its behalf," said Andrea R. Flores, vice president of FWD.us, "there should be absolutely no 'foreign affairs' reason that they cannot ask their contractor, El Salvador, to return Kilmer Abrego Garcia immediately."

Note: This article has been corrected to reflect the Supreme Court's order for the U.S. to "facilitate" the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.