Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
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What happened to the Maryland man wrongly deported?
Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Saturday, April 12th, 2025. This is The Exit. Today, what's next for the Maryland man wrongly deported to Central America? Plus we look into some other late week immigration rulings and Elon Musk lowers Doge's projected savings. A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to provide immediate information on the whereabouts of a Maryland man who the Supreme Court this week said must be returned after being wrongfully deported to El Salvador. I spoke with Gabrielle Banks, an editor on USA Today's politics team, for more. Gabrielle, thank you so much for hopping on the show today. You're welcome. Gabby, you attended this hearing yesterday, Friday. Paint the picture for us. Where were you and what was the scene or the mood like around the courthouse?
What was the atmosphere like at the courthouse?
It was raining pretty hard. There's maybe a couple dozen protesters outside with handmade signs. Some were covered with plastic. Some had ink dripping down their hands. It's a massive federal courthouse in Prince George's County. There were not many people coming or going from this building on a Friday afternoon, but I was in the overflow room. There were enough people going to this hearing that there were probably 40 or 50 reporters in the overflow room, sitting there with laptops and watching it on the big screen. It's very unusual for there to be that many reporters. Not for the Supreme Court, but for any federal district court it is. And I spoke with a couple of protesters afterward. One told me he was a technician at a Washington, D.C. public school. He said he doesn't know Abrego Garcia, but he got choked up talking about how upsetting it was to just imagine what had happened to him, that he hadn't been returned.
Wow. So in terms of Abrego Garcia and just his current situation at the time that we're talking, Gabby, where do things stand and what did a judge demand yesterday after the Supreme Court earlier in the week instructed government attorneys to begin the process of bringing him back home?
Well, the hearing lasted about 25 minutes. The Supreme Court the night before this hearing, Thursday night, said, you've got to expedite this. You've got to bring this man back. He was wrongly deported. So the lower court judge called this hearing for Tuesday afternoon and said before the hearing, let us know where he is and let's get this going.
What did the judge demand in the recent hearing?
There were instructions and the government, maybe an hour before the hearing, said, we're not going to have this for you and we can't get it for you. It's too quick. It's impracticable was the word that they used. So at the hearing, the judge said, it's very simple what I'm asking here. The instructions are, where is this guy? And in whose custody is he? And what steps are you taking to bring him back? And the government said, we don't have that information. The lawyer for the government said, I don't have that information. The judge repeated many times, it's a simple question. I need someone with knowledge about this to tell me what's happening. And she said, this is a quote. She said, it's quite basic. I'm not asking for state secrets.
I'm asking where one man who was wrongly and illegally deported from this country is. When they repeated that they couldn't answer that question and the lawyer who was there didn't know, she said, I need daily updates. Because his answer was, I'll try to get it for you by the end of Tuesday. And the judge said, this court doesn't close for the weekend under these circumstances. It's open all weekend. It's open in the evening. I'm going to check in with you daily until we find out where he is, whose custody he's in and when he's coming back. So the hearing is Wednesday, but every day until Wednesday, she's hoping that she can expedite it and get the answer sooner.
OK, so considering some of that strong language, really demanding language from the judge, what are we hearing from the Trump administration afterwards? And how are Abrego Garcia's lawyers or family responding to all this?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What happened to the Maryland man wrongly deported?
0:05–0:56
2
What was the atmosphere like at the courthouse?
0:56–2:24
3
What did the judge demand in the recent hearing?
2:24–6:10
4
What is the response from the Trump administration?
6:10–8:00
5
Why is this case significant to the public?
8:00–10:09
6
What are the implications of immigration enforcement in sensitive areas?
10:09–16:02
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Excerpt
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