From CBS News: A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s motions to dismiss Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit over his mistaken deportation to El Salvador, calling one of the government’s motions “meritless.” She did not immediately rule on Abrego Garcia’s motion to be moved to federal custody in Maryland, pending his criminal trial in Tennessee on human trafficking charges.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said to Justice Department attorney Bridget O’Hickey, “You made three arguments, defendants, and none are availing … meritless.”
Xinis, who had ordered the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. after he was sent to El Salvador in March, questioned O’Hickey about whether the U.S. had indicted him in order to facilitate his return. The government did not notify Xinis or Abrego Garcia’s attorneys when he was returned to the U.S. in June and immediately indicted.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was part of a group of more than 250 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men who were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador and held in CECOT, a maximum security prison, in mid-March. Soon afterward, he sued the government over his deportation. His amended suit asks Xinis that he be held in custody in Maryland, rather than in Tennessee, where he’s currently being detained, as well as to block his deportation.
During the hearing Monday morning, Xinis fumed over the Trump administration first claiming they couldn’t bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., then bringing him back to face smuggling charges without telling her first.
“It’s like trying to nail Jello to a wall trying to find out what is going to happen next week [if he is released from detention],” Xinis wildly claimed, appearing angry that the Trump administration is now prosecuting Abrego Garcia for his crimes.
ABOUT THIS JUDGE: Paula Xinis, age 56-57, was nominated in March 2015 by then-President Barack Obama to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 2016 by a 53-34 vote.
She is the same judge who, in April, ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” and “effectuate” the return of Abrego Garcia back to the United States.
READ MORE from CBS News.
BREAKING: A federal judge has denied the DOJ’s motions to dismiss Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation lawsuit. https://t.co/IQeFkiMpha
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 7, 2025
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