Attorneys for deported illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia have requested that Judge Paula Xinis authorize three additional depositions in order determine the government’s efforts to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.
The motion filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland has asked for three additional oral depositions of representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and the Department of Justice. The plaintiff’s motion notes that it requested all three government agencies, as the administration has acknowledged that “this is a case that involves three different Cabinet positions.”
The motion says the government can chose its own representatives without having to burden the heads of the respective departments to testify.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration invoked state secrets privilege to withhold information on Abrego Garcia’s deportation case. It was the second time the administration has used state secrets privilege in as many weeks in response to requests for documentation.
In March, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Maryland and deported from the United States following what critics say was an administrative error associating him with the violent MS-13 gang. In April, the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who is married to an American citizen.
Abrego Garcia has become a cause célèbre for the Democrats and media on the political left with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., flying to El Salvador in an attempt to bring the illegal immigrant back to the United States.
“I just landed in San Salvador a little while ago, and I look forward to meeting with the team at the U.S. embassy to discuss the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia. I also hope to meet with Salvadoran officials and with Kilmar himself. He was illegally abducted and needs to come home,” Van Hollen posted on X last month.
Last week, Xinis had ordered an expedited discovery schedule to begin on May 9 and approved depositions from four administration officials: Michael G. Kozak, a senior State Department official; Robert L. Cerna II, an acting field office director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Joseph N. Mazzara, acting general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Evan C. Katz, an assistant director at ICE.
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