A federal judge has doubled down on her seemingly unreasonable demand that the Trump administration return an illegal alien gang member to the United States. In a 22-page opinion filed at 1 a.m. Sunday, Obama-appointed Judge Paula Xinis reiterated her order that the Trump administration locate Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal from El Salvador who was deported in early March, saying the Trump administration’s “grievous error” “shocks the conscience.” 

Abrego Garcia, a citizen of El Salvador, who is portrayed as a "Maryland father" in most news reports, entered the US illegally in 2011. In 2019, he was arrested on allegations of membership in the violent Salvadoran gang called Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. At that time, he applied for political asylum, which was denied. He was initially held without bond as a danger to the community because of gang membership and as a flight risk and given an order of removal. Somewhere along the way, a judge put his deportation on hold on the grounds that he might be in danger if he returned to El Salvador and ordered his release. In early March, Garcia was arrested and put on a plane to El Salvador and the Terrorist Confinement Facility, CECOT. Abrego Garcia's attorneys sued, and the judge issued an order that the government “facilitate and effectuate” his return to the US no later than 11:59 p.m. Monday; see Judge Orders Trump to Return Deported Man Sent to El Salvadoran Prison, Sets Up a Massive Showdown – RedState.

Thus far, the Trump administration has hung tough and refused to concede any ground. Their current position is that a) the man had a deportation order, b) the order to "withhold" deportation was violated, but that is meaningless as the deportation order was valid, c) the federal judge doesn't have jurisdiction, and d) the US government doesn't have custody of him anyway. The details of that argument can be found in this post: Trump Administration Sends Brutally Honest Response Saying Judge Can't Undo a Perfectly Good Deportation – RedState.

My gut feeling is that Judge Xinis had her ego firmly inserted in the case, and that will inevitably result in a tragic self-beclowning.

She says Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador "without notice, legal justification, or due process." This, of course, is nonsense. He was ordered deported in 2019, and while that order was held in abeyance, the environment changed. There is a new president and new priorities, and MS-13 has been declared a terrorist organization by the Secretary of State. 

Judge Xinis mewls about the conditions at CECOT, calling it "one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere," while relying upon a Fox News article as proof. I suppose she thinks quoting Fox News makes her look even-handed. This Fox News article is given more weight than the administration's certification and the certification by El Salvador that he will not be subject to torture or maltreatment.

The judge takes at face value what looks like a cock-and-bull story about Abrego Garcia being threatened by a rival gang in El Salvador nearly 14 years ago to conclude that tossing him in a high security prison pending the resolution of his case "put him in a facility that intentionally mixes rival gang members without any regard for protecting the detainees from 'harm at the hands of the gangs.'" One can't help but note that just a few pages earlier, Judge Xinis was arguing that Abrego Garcia had no gang affiliation, but now she's concerned about him being imprisoned with rival gangs. 

It is also abundantly clear that the Department of Justice attorney representing the government severely damaged the administration's case. Whether by stupidity, lack of interest, or outright sabotage, the results are the same, and the judge liberally quotes the words of that attorney; see Bondi Suspends Attorney Who Threw the Trump Administration Under the Bus at Deportation Hearing – RedState.

The Fourth Circuit ordered Abrego Garcia's attorneys to file a response to the government's application for a stay by 2 p.m. on Sunday. They have now done so. 

🚨Garcia's response filed. This struck me as WTH. Again, he had an order of removal. Why was he just "checking in?" 1/ https://t.co/DWut0Fxwwl pic.twitter.com/NGgz5mHbZI

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) April 6, 2025

READ THE OPINION

Abrego Garcia vs. Noem—Xinis Opinion by streiff at redstate on Scribd

Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity. 

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