Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
In the unlikely event that you haven’t heard of the complete sh*tshow that is the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, here’s a timeline of how it’s gone so far:
March 15: Kilmar Abrego Garcia is
deported to El Salvador for alleged links to the MS-13 gang (despite a protected
legal status which precludes him from being deported to that country).
March 18: An ICE official confirms
several of
those detained have NO CRIMINAL RECORD. April 1: It’s reported Abrego
Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador due to an "administrative
error".
April 4: Judge Paula Xinis orders
the government to return Abrego Garcia to the United States by midnight on
April 7.
April 7: Supreme Court Chief
Justice John Roberts puts off Judge Xinis' midnight deadline.
April 8: The Trump administration
claims the judge can't demand Abrego Garcia's return as it’s interference in
foreign diplomacy.
April 9: Abrego Garcia's wife
denies the allegation her husband is a member of the MS-13 gang.
April 10: The Supreme Court rules
Judge Xinis "properly requires the Government to 'facilitate' Abrego
Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador." But adds it may exceed her
authority to insist they 'effectuate' her order. Trump’s team view this as a
win for them.
April 11: Judge Xinis, arguing
the Supreme Court has spoken, slams the Trump team’s handling of the case
and orders "daily updates" on Abrego Garcia's status and efforts to
bring him back.
April 12: It’s reported that Abrego
Garcia is "alive and secure" in El Salvador's CECOT prison - no
information is provided about efforts to return him to the United States.
April 14: Attorney General Pam Bondi
says that Abrego Garcia's return is "up to El Salvador,". The El
Salvadorian president says, "I don't have the power to return him to the
United States."
April 15: Judge Xinis orders
expedited discovery to resolve Abrego Garcia's wrongful deportation.
A DHS
official claims they’re "prepared to facilitate Abrego Garcia's presence
in the United States ... if he presents at a port of entry" -- but adds they
don’t have the authority to extract him from "a foreign sovereign
nation."
April 16: The DOJ says they’ll
appeal Judge Xinis' ruling ordering them to facilitate his return.
Sen.
Chris Van Hollen of Maryland travels to El Salvador to meet with Abrego
Garcia.
April 17: The U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 4th Circuit denies the Trump team’s effort to appeal Judge
Xinis' order requiring it to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return.
Sen. Van
Hollen succeeds in meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
April 18:
Sen. Van Hollen reveals Abrego Garcia was transferred 9 days ago to
another facility.
Trump
posts a picture on Truth Social of Abrego Garcia’s hand with his tattoos
annotated to imply connections to MS-13. Trump claims the annotations are also
tattooed on his hand.
April 21: The Salvadoran
government rejects Democrat
lawmakers request to visit Abrego Garcia.
April 22: Judge Xinis orders the
government to more fully answer and respond to discovery requests
from Abrego Garcia's attorneys. This is then paused for 7 days.
April 29: Trump says he "could"
secure the return of Abrego Garcia, and "if he were the gentleman
that you say he is, I would do that" but adds, "I'm not the one
making this decision."
April 30: Multiple sources suggest Secretary
of State Marco Rubio has been in touch with
El Salvador President about Abrego Garcia, although details are not clear.
May 7: Judge Xinis schedules a
hearing for May 16 after the Trump administration invokes the state secrets
privilege to shield information about its handling of the matter.
May 8: Attorneys for Abrego
Garcia, saying they're "still in the dark" ask Judge Xinis to
authorise depositions of additional officials.
May 13: Lawyers for Abrego Garcia push
back saying that the government has produced no evidence that it's made
"the slightest effort" to facilitate his release.
May 16: Trump’s team release Marco
Rubio's May 5 declaration in support of the state secrets privilege claiming the
disclosure of certain information requested by Abrego Garcia's attorneys
"could be expected to cause significant harm to the foreign
relations interests".
June 6: Abrego Garcia is brought
back to the U.S. to face criminal charges for allegedly participating in
hauling undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the United States.
Pam Bondi, after saying for months that it could not bring him back, says,
"Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they
agreed to return him to our country."
Abrego
Garcia makes his initial court appearance.
June 9:
Federal prosecutors argue that Abrego Garcia poses "a serious risk of
flight,"
Abrego
Garcia's attorneys argue the wrongful deportation case is not over until the
government is "held accountable" for "its blatant, willful, and
persistent violations of court orders at excruciating cost to Abrego Garcia and
his family."
June 10: The DOJ calls Abrego Garcia's attorneys'
request to continue their case "desperate and disappointing," and argue
that they complied with the order to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return.
June 11: Abrego Garcia’s Attorneys
ask Judge Xinis to impose sanctions on the Trump team for what they
call "repeated violations of its discovery obligations".
June 13: Abrego Garcia pleads
not guilty to human smuggling charges. Judge Holmes says she will wait to decide
whether he should be released from custody pending trial.
June 22: Judge Holmes denies the
government's motion to detain Abrego Garcia while he awaits trial -- but
acknowledges that, if released, he will likely be apprehended by ICE.
June 25: Judge Holmes outlines
Abrego Garcia's conditions of release on bond, but he remains in custody after
the judge asks whether the government has the ability to prevent his
deportation while he awaits trial.
June 26: Abrego Garcia's attorneys move
to have him returned to Maryland while he awaits trial. The administration says
it will seek to deport him to a country other than his native El Salvador.
July 2: Abrego Garcia’s attorneys
argue he could "face persecution or torture if removed directly to various
other countries," adding he was subjected to severe mistreatment while
in CECOT.
July 7: Judge Xinis orders the
Trump administration to produce witnesses who can testify about the
government's plans should Abrego Garcia be released from custody.
July 10: An ICE official testifies
about the process the government might undertake to deport Abrego
Garcia should he be released from custody in Tennessee.
July 11: Abrego Garcia's legal
team asks Judge Xinis to order that he not be removed from the United
States without at least 72 hours notice should he be released on bond.
July 16: A federal judge says he will
rule within the next week on Abrego Garcia's pre-trial detention, after
government attorneys argue Abrego Garcia poses a public danger and
flight risk.
July 21: Abrego Garcia's attorneys
ask for a 30-day stay if he is released from custody while awaiting
trial.
July 23: Judge Xinis orders the
Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to Maryland upon his
release from custody, shortly before a judge in Tennessee pauses Abrego
Garcia's release for 30 days. The judge notes the poor attempts made by Trump’s
team to tie Abrego Garcia to MS-13 (with the hand tattoo annotations)
Aug. 19: Abrego Garcia's attorneys seek
to dismiss the criminal charges against him, accusing federal prosecutors
of "vindictive and selective prosecution."
Aug. 22: Abrego Garcia is released
from custody in Tennessee into the custody of his brother in Maryland,
with orders to report to the ICE office in Baltimore on Monday morning.
The Trump administration say
they may seek to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda.
Aug. 25: Abrego Garcia is taken
into immigration custody upon checking in with ICE and is transferred to a
detention center in Virginia. His attorneys say ICE may deport him to Uganda after
he rejected a plea deal to be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for pleading
guilty).
Judge
Xinis says that the federal government is "absolutely forbidden" from
deporting him.
Aug. 26: Attorneys for Abrego
Garcia move to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum and allow Abrego
Garcia to designate Costa Rica as the country of removal should he be deported.
Judge
Xinis temporarily blocks the Trump administration from deporting
Abrego Garcia until at least early October when his latest deportation court
challenge is expected to be resolved.
Aug. 28: Abrego Garcia’s lawyers
say their client has been “vilified” in the media and ask for all officials to
"refrain from making extrajudicial comments …materially prejudicing"
proceedings.
Sept. 5: The Trump administration says it will remove Abrego Garcia to El Salvador again if his immigration case is reopened and that it now plans to deport him to Eswatini, Africa.
So, to sum up, he was deported illegally, it was made clear
he should have been brought back ASAP but wasn’t and that nothing’s been proven
against him and Trump and his goons have basically stuck two fingers up at the
law and said ‘F you – we’re doing it anyway.” So much for the land of the
free(!)
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