Video above: SCOTUS says Trump admin must ‘facilitate’ return of mistakenly deported man

(The Hill) — The Trump administration provided a Saturday wellness report for the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador in its first daily update mandated by a court order.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the White House to document reports on the status of Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday in an effort to determine if the administration is complying with her order to “facilitate” the man’s return to U.S. soil. He is currently being detained in the country’s maximum security CECOT prison.

“He is alive and secure in that facility. He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador,” Michael Kozack, a senior bureau official at the State Department, wrote in a Saturday filing.

He said the information was based on official reporting from the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador.

Lawyers representing Abrego Garcia have proposed the federal government be held in contempt for prolonging efforts to have their client returned.

The Trump administration acknowledged that Abrego Garcia was removed in an “administrative error” but continues to argue the president cannot be forced to orchestrate his return since he is now in the hands of Salvadoran authorities. 

Despite their claim being submitted through a series of appeals, the Supreme Court upheld Xinis’ ruling declaring that U.S. officials must “facilitate” the Maryland man’s return. 

Abrego Garcia received a 2019 judgment from a United States immigration court granting him protection from removal to El Salvador citing threats of violence and persecution from gangs in his home country if returned.

While his legal battle plays out in court, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys submitted a proposed order Saturday requesting that Xinis direct the federal government to formally request their client’s release to U.S. custody through CECOT, prepare all paperwork required for his return, dispatch personnel to accompany Abrego Garcia during his travel and provide air transportation for Abrego Garcia to return to Maryland, because he “may not be in current possession of sufficient identification to board a commercial flight.”

Xinis was exasperated Friday with the government’s lack of information.

“Where is he and under whose authority?” the judge asked during the hearing. “I’m not asking for state secrets. All I know is that he’s not here. The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador, and now I’m asking a very simple question: Where is he?”

The judge repeatedly asked a government attorney about what has been done to return Abrego Garcia, asking pointedly: “Have they done anything?”

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 “actively considering what could be done” and said that Abrego Garcia’s 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 has lived in the U.S. 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 Associated Press contributed to this report.