A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Trump administration has until midnight to return a man who was deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador by mistake.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A federal judge ordered the administration to bring back Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was arrested and deported last month in what the judge described as an illegal act. The Justice Department is appealing that order, and it placed the attorney who argued its case on administrative leave.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR correspondent Joel Rose joins us now with more. So, Joel, let's start with the judge's order. What - why did she direct the Trump administration to bring him back?
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Yeah. The Trump administration has admitted that he was deported by mistake because of what they describe as an administrative error. Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland for over a decade. He has a form of legal protection known as withholding of removal. In spite of that, ICE officers arrested Abrego Garcia last month, and a few days later, he was deported to El Salvador, along with hundreds of other men accused of being gang members.
But the Justice Department argues there is nothing they can do now because Abrego Garcia is already out of the U.S. Federal District Judge Paula Xinis rejected that argument. She found that his arrest was, quote, "wholly lawless." His ongoing detention in El Salvador in prison, quote, "shocks the conscience." She noted that the U.S. is paying El Salvador to hold these prisoners, and she ordered the Trump administration to bring him back to Maryland by midnight tonight.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. What has the Trump administration said?
ROSE: They are not backing down. The White House insists that Abrego Garcia is a member of the Salvadoran gang called MS-13, though his lawyers deny that. They say that allegation dates back to the time he was arrested in 2019 in the parking lot of a Home Depot. His lawyers say the gang allegation is based largely on a confidential informant who accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the gang in New York, which is a state where he has never lived.
Abrego Garcia's lawyers say he has no criminal record in any country. Nevertheless, the White House has doubled down, calling Abrego Garcia a leader in MS-13 and a convicted gang member. But if the Trump administration has evidence to support that, they have not put it on the record in this case. Judge Xinis said during the hearing that without any evidence, like a criminal indictment or complaint, these gang allegations are just, quote-unquote, "chatter."
MARTÍNEZ: Joel, I saw over the weekend the Justice Department put the attorney who argued the case on Friday on administrative leave. Why did that happen?
ROSE: This is remarkable. The Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni argued the case on Friday. Reuveni has argued many cases on immigration for administrations of both parties, and he had some very candid answers for Judge Xinis. The judge asked him why the administration did not try to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. when they first learned about this mistake. Reuveni said he had asked his clients inside the Trump administration the very same thing and that, quote, "I have not received to date an answer that I find satisfactory." The next day, he was put on leave - administrative leave by the Justice Department. Here's Attorney General Pam Bondi explaining why yesterday on Fox News Sunday.
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PAM BONDI: I firmly said, on Day 1, I issued a memo that you are to vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States. He shouldn't have taken the case. He shouldn't have argued it if that's what he was going to do.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Joel, what happens now?
ROSE: The Justice Department is appealing. They argue that courts do not have jurisdiction over this case because Abrego Garcia is in the custody of El Salvador. And essentially, there is nothing that Judge Xinis can do. The Justice Department is asking the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency stay. But if they do not get one, that midnight deadline will still be in place. And then the big question is whether they will comply with it.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Joel Rose. Joel, thank you.
ROSE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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