A Judge Ripped the Trump Administration for Doing ‘Nothing’ to Return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia

“The question is, what steps are you going to take here,” Judge Paula Xinis asked Trump officials.

U.S. President Donald Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele

President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele held a bilateral summit at the White House on Monday. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

A federal judge summarily rejected the Trump administration’s excuses for not even trying to bring a Maryland father who was erroneously deported to an El Salvador terrorist prison back to the U.S., ordering government officials to turn over evidence of their supposed efforts so far — and indicating she may ultimately hold the administration in contempt.

At a court hearing Tuesday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis reminded government lawyers that the Supreme Court was “clear” last week in demanding that the White House take steps to bring back Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.

“To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing,” Xinis told lawyers at the Department of Justice, later adding, “The question is, what steps are you going to take here?”