Judge says Trump administration not detailing efforts to return wrongly deported man

By Blake Brittain

May 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge expressed frustration on Friday that President Donald Trump's administration had yet to provide sufficient details about its efforts to bring back a man deported in error from the United States and sent to a prison in El Salvador.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said at a hearing that the government had not produced information from high-level officials that adequately explained how it was complying with her order to "facilitate" the return of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Xinis also questioned whether the administration intended to comply with the order at all, citing a statement from U.S. Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem that Abrego Garcia "will never be allowed to return to the United States."

"That sounds to me like an admission," Xinis said. "That's about as clear as it can get."

The Trump administration has argued that details sought by Abrego Garcia's attorneys are confidential state secrets, but Xinis said the Justice Department had not shown how the doctrine would apply.

"You have not given me anything that I can really say 'Ok, I understand what of the plaintiffs' requests or the court's order, in the government's view, poses a reasonable danger to diplomatic relations,'" the judge said.

Xinis said information provided by government officials in Abrego Garcia's case so far had been "an exercise in utter frustration."

Abrego Garcia's lawyer Andrew Rossman told Xinis it was "deeply disturbing" that the administration indicated it was in compliance with the judge's orders while "at the same time the highest officials in the government are saying the opposite."

The hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, marks the latest court clash over Abrego Garcia's deportation, amid concerns that the administration failed to comply with Xinis' orders even after the U.S. Supreme Court said it "should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken" to facilitate his return.

Department of Justice attorney Jonathan Guynn said during the hearing that the Supreme Court's ruling acknowledged there would be "some and maybe many details we can't share" with the court.

Guynn and Xinis sparred over some fundamental details about the case, including whether it concerned government "misconduct" and if the administration could legally remove Abrego Garcia.

Xinis said several government statements indicated Abrego Garcia had been deported by mistake. "The attempt to revise that is going to be exceptionally difficult," she said.

Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador on March 15 despite an order protecting him from removal. His case has sparked concerns among Democrats and some legal analysts that Trump's administration is willing to disregard the judiciary, an independent and equal branch of government.

Xinis last month ordered the administration to provide more information about what it was doing to secure Abrego Garcia's return. She previously said that the administration had not given her any information of value about its efforts.

Administration officials have accused courts of interfering with the executive branch's ability to conduct foreign policy.

They have invoked the state secrets privilege, a legal doctrine that allows the government to block the disclosure of information that could harm national security interests, to conceal details about its efforts to return Abrego Garcia.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a court filing this week that Abrego Garcia's lawyers have "all the information they need" to confirm that it has complied with the court's order on his return.

Xinis said on Friday that she would likely give the administration another chance to supplement its evidence, which had included an affidavit from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the state-secrets privilege that she said was insufficient.