A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday ordered the release of documents related to the deportation of illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, rejecting the Trump administration’s argument that the contents could risk national security.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, a Barack Obama appointee, granted a request by a coalition of news organizations to unseal seven documents and a partially redacted transcript from an April 30 hearing, the Washington Examiner reported.
“It does not disclose any potentially privileged or otherwise sensitive information for which a compelling government interest outweighs the right to access,” Xinis wrote in a five-page order, according to ABC News.
Xinis noted that some documents were public before the court was asked to seal them the next day. Those filings contained a back-and-forth between Abrego Garcia’s attorneys and the U.S. government over efforts to return him from El Salvador.
Xinis also ordered the partial release of a transcript from an April 30 court hearing. Some of it will be redacted to protect potentially classified information.
In a separate order, Xinis approved a request from Abrego Garcia’s legal team to file a motion for sanctions — due June 11 — that would allow the plaintiffs to pursue formal penalties if the administration is found to have acted in bad faith or knowingly defied court orders, according to the Examiner.
The records unsealed included a March 22 government filing that shed additional light on the administration’s legal arguments and diplomatic efforts, the Examiner reported.
The State Department has been engaged in “appropriate diplomatic discussions” with Salvadoran officials, according to the filing. But Trump administration attorneys argued they see a distinction between “facilitating” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. and securing his release from Salvadoran custody. Officials said the latter falls outside U.S. authority.
According to the filing, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, William Duncan, has had direct contact with Salvadoran officials, including organizing a meeting between Abrego Garcia and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in April. Salvadoran officials confirmed Abrego Garcia was moved from the CECOT prison to a lower-security facility in Santa Ana and remains in “excellent health.”
Xinis’ rulings are the latest in a long-running legal saga since Abrego Garcia was deported in March to El Salvador to be incarcerated in the CECOT facility. The Trump administration admitted his deportation was an administrative error after an immigration judge’s limited withholding of removal order in 2019 stated Abrego Garcia could not be deported to his native country. But the administration has maintained he is a violent criminal and a member of MS-13, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Wednesday’s ruling was unrelated to the Trump administration’s pending invocation of the state secrets privilege, a legal doctrine often used in military cases, according to ABC News. The administration has argued that releasing information about the Abrego Garcia case in open court — or even to the judge in private — could jeopardize national security.
Xinis has yet to rule on the state secrets claim.
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