The U.S. State Department has confirmed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, is alive and currently being held at the CECOT mega-prison, a maximum-security facility operated by the Salvadoran government.
However, officials have not outlined any steps to secure his return to the United States despite a Supreme Court order directing the federal government to "facilitate" his return.
Michael Kozak, a senior State Department official, submitted a declaration to a federal judge in Maryland noting that Abrego Garcia is "alive and secure" in El Salvador and "detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority" of that country, as ABC News reports. The filing arrived just minutes before the deadline imposed by Judge Paula Xinis, who has been demanding daily updates on the government's efforts.
The Department of Justice, however, argued in a court filing on Sunday that the federal courts lack the authority to compel the executive branch to engage with foreign governments in a particular way, as The Hill reported.
"The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way," said DOJ lawyers, adding that such decision "is the 'exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations."
Judge Xinis has repeatedly pressed DOJ attorneys for clarity on what the administration is doing to comply with her order and the Supreme Court's ruling. "Have they done anything?" she asked at a Friday hearing. When a DOJ attorney responded that he had no personal knowledge of any action, Xinis remarked, "OK, so they've done nothing."
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have requested the court order the administration to provide transportation and safe passage for his return and suggested the government should be held in contempt for failing to comply. They also cited President Donald Trump's recent comment acknowledging that, "If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would do that," alluding to the fact that he "respected" that institution.
Despite DOJ lawyers continue to assert that it cannot be forced to act, objecting to the requirement for daily status reports and reserving the right to challenge the court's oversight.
Abrego Garcia was deported in March despite a 2019 court order barring his removal to El Salvador. He had lived in Maryland under a valid work permit and, according to his lawyers, fled El Salvador due to political violence in 2011. The administration has alleged that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with MS-13, a claim his legal team and his wife strongly deny.
ICE has described the deportation as an "administrative error."
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