Trump administration asks judge to pause discovery in Abrego Garcia case

(WASHINGTON) -- A day after a federal judge ordered the government to more fully answer questions about the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration, in a sealed motion Wednesday, asked the judge to pause discovery for seven days.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who last week slammed Justice Department attorneys over their inaction over Abrego Garcia's wrongful detention and ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery, ordered the government Tuesday to more fully answer and respond by Wednesday evening to discovery requests from Abrego Garcia's attorneys.

"Given that this Court expressly warned Defendants and their counsel to adhere strictly to their discovery obligations ... their boilerplate, non-particularized objections are presumptively invalid and reflect a willful refusal to comply with this Court's Discovery Order and governing rules," Xinis wrote Tuesday.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13.

The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. His wife and attorney have denied that he is an MS-13 member.

Judge Xinis early this month ruled that the Trump administration must "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, "with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs."

Earlier Tuesday, government attorneys asserted that providing detailed information on the legal basis for Abrego Garcia's confinement would be "wholly inappropriate and an invasion of diplomatic discussions," according to a joint letter outlining the discovery disputes between the parties.

"Upon Abrego's repatriation to El Salvador, his detention was no longer a matter of the United States' confinement, but a matter belonging to the government of El Salvador -- which has been explained to the Plaintiffs repeatedly," the government said.

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia in the letter accused the Trump administration of responding to their discovery requests by producing "nothing of substance" and providing interrogatory responses that are "non-responsive."

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