The Trump administration grew even more defiant in its dealings with a federal judge Monday evening, pointing to a White House meeting between Donald Trump and the president of El Salvador earlier in the day to essentially say the administration would not seek to return a Maryland man who was incorrectly deported.
The Department of Justice blew its 5 p.m. deadline to update U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on its efforts to bring back Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from the maximum security “Terrorism Confinement Center” in El Salvador.
When the DOJ did file nearly an hour late, lawyers provided only a brief statement from a Department of Homeland Security attorney showing how the administration is washing its hands of any responsibility for the improper deportation and leaving the matter solely up to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.