Trump Administration Reportedly Told Court About Its Efforts To Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Lawyers for the wrongly deported man revealed a stark contrast to what Trump and his officials have been saying publicly.

The Trump administration has reportedly told the court overseeing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, via private filings, that it was working to secure his release from custody from a prison in El Salvador, according to a memorandum filed by his lawyers on Monday.

That is in stark contrast to the public pronouncements by President Donald Trump, administration officials and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who have all stated that Abrego Garcia, who has not been charged, convicted or accused of any crime, will not come back to the United States despite an April 10 Supreme Court decision ordering the administration to “facilitate” his release from prison and return.

“[T]he President has insisted on national television that, although he has the power to bring Abrego Garcia back, he won’t, because his lawyers have advised him against it,” the filing by Abrego Garcia’s lawyers states. “Other cabinet members, including the Secretary of Homeland Security, have likewise testified before Congress that ’there is no scenario where Abrego Garcia will be in the United States again.’ Meanwhile, in sealed, ex parte proceedings, the Government presumably has told this Court the opposite, as it has repeatedly sought to draw out this litigation.” (Ex parte proceedings refer to those held in private.)

In another passage, the memorandum states that “the Government has apparently suggested to this Court — belatedly, and in sealed ex parte communications — that it was working to secure Abrego Garcia’s return.”

The sealed communications cited in the memorandum include two motions to stay discovery filed by the Trump administration on April 23 and April 29.