A protester holds a photo of Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia as demonstrators gather to protest against the deportation of immigrants to El Salvador outside the Permanent Mission of El Salvador to the United Nations on April 24, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The lawyers for wrongly deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia late Wednesday requested civil fines be levied against Trump administration officials for repeatedly ignoring court orders — including from the U.S. Supreme Court — to bring their client back from El Salvador to the United States.
In the filing, the attorneys asked Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis to impose court sanctions on the government for evading discovery requests that attempted to determine steps taken to return Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration has admitted his deportation to a notorious mega-prison in March was an “administrative error.”
“For nine weeks, the Government defied this Court’s order, affirmed by a unanimous Supreme Court, to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States following his illegal removal to El Salvador,” according to the filing.
In addition to fines on the government for failing to comply with court orders, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers suggest “Courts may impose monetary sanctions against government attorneys personally” and “The court may go even further and prohibit the government from reimbursing its attorneys for their costs.”
And they note the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals “has affirmed civil contempt sanctions for parties that have evinced ‘disregard for the discovery process,’ such as by failing to produce discovery materials pursuant to a court order, that mirrors the conduct of the Government in the instant case.”
Timing for Tennessee indictment questioned
Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States on June 6, but to face a criminal indictment on the accusation he took part in human smuggling of people in the country without legal authorization. He is currently detained and will face an arraignment before a Nashville judge Friday.
His attorneys questioned the timing of the indictment, noting that while Attorney General Pam Bondi “declined, when asked by reporters, to state when the criminal investigation began, public reporting indicates that it started in April—around the same time that this Court ordered expedited discovery into the Government’s apparent defiance of Court orders.”
“While the Government was telling this Court one thing and the world something else, it was secretly working to charge Abrego Garcia with two felony immigration charges based on alleged conduct that occurred years ago—and that it previously trumpeted in the media as justifying his removal,” according to the filing.
The attorneys specifically cite possible sanctions against Department of Homeland Security attorney Joseph N. Mazzara, based on a New York Times story where Mazzara allegedly said the Trump administration was trying to keep Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.
“Divining the identities of these officials is made difficult by the noncompliance itself—although at least a few, such as Mazzara, are already known—which is why it is appropriate for the Court to order an investigation into which Government officials willfully evaded the Court’s discovery orders,” according to the filing.
Continuing the court case
The attorneys are pushing to continue with the discovery process in order to identify the steps taken or the involvement of any other government officials who defied the court orders to return Abrego Garcia.
“The lengths the Government has gone to resist discovery relating to these core questions raises a strong inference that the Government is trying to hide its conduct from the scrutiny of this Court, the Plaintiffs, and the public,” according to the filing. “What the Government improperly seeks to hide must be exposed for all to see.”
The Trump administration on June 6 moved to dismiss Abrego Garcia’s civil suit filed in federal district court in Maryland, arguing it is moot after Abrego Garcia landed in the U.S. to face criminal charges in Tennessee.
But Abrego Garcia’s lawyers are pushing to keep his civil case open in pursuit of the potential sanctions cited in the latest brief.
“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, this case is not over,” according to the brief by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed Sunday.
This post was originally authored and published by Ariana Figueroa from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
