The Abrego Garcia Case: A Quick Update

I usually try to avoid riding the waves of the news cycle on a minute-by-minute basis, but for the reasons we’ve discussed, the Abrego Garcia case is important not just for his future but for all of us. So I wanted to update you on what has happened following last night’s post about the Supreme Court’s decision.

Shortly after it was issued, Judge Paula Xinis got to work, filing an order requiring the government to give her an update on Abrego Garcia’s location, custodial status, what efforts the government was making, and when it planned to return him. She ordered them to provide her with that information by 9:30 a.m. in advance of a 1 p.m. status conference in court.

You can find the Judge’s order here. She didn’t waste any time helping the Supreme Court understand what she intended when she ordered the government to “effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. She wrote that the Supreme Court had “directed that on remand, [that] this Court clarify its use of the term ‘effectuate,’ according proper deference to the Executive Branch in its conduct of foreign affairs…To this end, the Court hereby amends the Order to DIRECT that Defendants take all available steps to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States as soon as possible.”

But the Trump administration, which has already conceded that it acted unlawfully when it deported Abrego Garcia, showed no signs of remorse in responding to Judge Xinis, even with the Supreme Court’s new order on the books. This morning, they wrote, “The initial deadline contained in the Amended Preliminary Injunction, which requires Defendants to provide the Court with a plan for diplomatic engagement a mere 30 minutes into the business day following the Supreme Court’s decision last night, is inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s instruction that this Court ‘clarify its directive[] with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.’”

Far from being impressed by the Supreme Court’s unanimous pronouncement (or at least one lacking any dissents), the government is emboldened by it. Clearly, they are contemplating resort to “diplomatic engagement” as a way around restoring Abrego Garcia. And that means they could do the same for any of us, as long as they managed to spirit us out of the country before we have due process. Sure, the Supreme Court says you have those rights, but as long as the government has a way around, those rights exist only on paper. The government may be headed there.

“It would also be impracticable for Defendants to comply with the Court’s 9:30AM deadline only a few hours after the Supreme Court issued an order in this case…Defendants propose that the Court modify its order to allow Defendants until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, to submit its supplemental declaration, and to reschedule any hearing on this matter until Wednesday, April 16, 2025.”

Judge Xinis gave the government until 11:30 a.m. ET to respond. She still intends to hold her hearing. She advised the government that:

• Its “act of sending Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was wholly illegal from the moment it happened, and Defendants have been on notice of the same. Indeed, as the Supreme Court credits, ‘the United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal.’”

• The government’s “suggestion that they need time to meaningfully review a four-page Order that reaffirms this basic principle blinks at reality.”

• Nothing the Supreme Court did prohibits the district court from acting quickly. “As the Supreme Court plainly stated, ‘the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps,’…all against the backdrop of this Court’s needing to ‘ensure that the Government lives up to its obligations to follow the law.’”

The battle lines are drawn. As we discussed last night, the government is likely to go through another cycle of delay and appeal. In the meantime, Abrego Garcia continues to sit in a place far worse than any American prison, a place the district judge wrote, has “some of the most inhumane and squalid conditions known in any carceral system.”

There will be more news on this during the day, and we’ll follow it closely. I really appreciate that you’re here with me at Civil Discourse. As Americans, we’re all trying to answer the question, “What can we do to save our democracy?” right now. I try to address that question in different ways every time I write to you, whether it’s by keeping you informed or with specific suggestions. And the archive of older posts is available to paid subscribers, so you can go back and read through them when you need a little inspiration. Again, thank you all for your support. More than 635,000 people subscribe to Civil Discourse, and that number grows every day.

We’re in this together,

Joyce