Contempt Proceedings Have Begun in the Abrego Garcia Case

Abrego Garcia's lawyers filed a motion to show cause why the Trump administration shouldn't be held in contempt for failing to comply with the court's clear orders.

A brief background: A Maryland father named Abrego Garcia was disappeared to a torture prison in El Salvador over what the Trump regime’s first lawyer in the case admitted was an illegal administrative error. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers sued to return him to the US, and on April 4th, District Court Judge Xinis ordered he be returned. Trump appealed and the 4th Circuit upheld the ruling, requiring the Trump adminsitration “to facilitate and effectuate the return of Plaintiff Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States by no later than 11:59 PM on Monday, April 7, 2025.”

That same day, Justice Roberts issued a temporary administrative stay while the Supreme Court considered Trump’s application to vacate the District Court’s order. The Supreme Court denied the application but not without leaving the door open for the Trump administration to fight whatever the District Court ordered. They said that the District court can order the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, but that the District Court must clarify what it means to direct them to “effectuate” his return. They also said that the District Court must clarify “effectuate” with “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

The Trump regime has clung hard to the concepts of “due regard” and “deference” in the face of the lower court requiring the government to have someone with knowledge inform the court of Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts, what steps they’ve taken to return him, and what steps they will continue to take. That information was due Friday morning, but the administration’s lawyer refused to give any information, telling the court (not asking) that they’d have more information Tuesday.

District Court Judge Xinis ordered the government to give status updates to the court every day by 5 PM ET.

That status update was due 45 minutes ago, and nothing had been filed by the government. But as soon as the administration’s status report was late, lawyers for Abrego Garcia filed a motion to show cause.

You may recall from the proceedings in the Alien Enemies Act case in front of Judge Boasberg that a show cause motion is typically the first step in contempt proceedings. If this motion is granted, the judge will order the Trump regime to “show cause” why she shouldn’t hold them in contempt - not for failing to return Abrego Garcia - but for failing to report his whereabouts and what steps they’ve taken to return him. Here’s what they say:

Yesterday, President Trump confirmed that the United States has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from prison and return to the United States: “If the Supreme Court said, ‘Bring somebody back,’ I would do that. ... I respect the Supreme Court.” Of course, that is precisely what the Supreme Court did when it ruled that this Court’s injunction “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” The Government should be required to comply with the Supreme Court’s order that it “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” by taking all available steps to release and return Abrego Garcia to Maryland.

The President’s acknowledgement of the United States’ power to bring Abrego Garcia back notwithstanding, the Department of Justice and other Government agencies continue to resist this Court and the Supreme Court. At yesterday’s hearing, the Government defied an order of this Court, and of the Supreme Court, by refusing to provide even basic information about Abrego Garcia’s current location and status and what it is doing to comply with the injunction.

Plaintiffs request that the Court order three additional types of relief. First, order the Government to take by end of the day Monday, April 14, 2024, the specific steps set forth below to comply with the injunction in this case. Second, order expedited discovery of the Government’s actions (or failure to act) to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. Third, order the Government to show cause by 10 a.m. Monday, April 14, 2025, as to why it should not be held in contempt due to its failure to comply with the Court’s prior orders, including any failure to a comply with the Court’s order of April 11, 2025.

About 20 minutes after the lawyers for Abrego Garcia filed their show cause motion, the Trump administration filed its status update, but it doesn’t fully comply with the court’s order. It only addresses one of the three questions the court required the government to answer.

The status update order from the District Court said:

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that beginning April 12, 2025, and continuing each day thereafter until further order of the Court, Defendants shall file daily, on or before 5:00 PM ET, a declaration made by an individual with personal knowledge as to any information regarding:

(1) the current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia; (2) what steps, if any, Defendants have taken to facilitate his immediate return to the United States; (3) what additional steps Defendants will take, and when, to facilitate his return.

The government’s status update is a two-page declaration from a senior bureau official named Michael J. Kozak. Here’s what he has to say:

It is my understanding based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. He is alive and secure in that facility. He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador.

That last line says a lot. It makes me think that the Trump administration is gearing up to refuse to return Abrego Garcia because he’s not in the custody of the US, and that they can’t order El Salvador to return him. I imagine they’re also contemplating invoking some kind of privilege - like state secrets privilege - as to why they will be unable to tell the court about the steps they’ve taken to bring him home.

This bullshit answer may just be enough to satisfy the Supreme Court’s order that the government do their best, but that they can’t do anything else to force Abrego Garcia’s return because of the “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

If that’s the outcome, the Trump administration will not only have gotten away with this, but they will then know that they can “accidentally” disappear anyone to El Salvador, and no one can force the government to bring them home. There is a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 15th at 4 PM EDT.

I hope I’m wrong.

~AG

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland