Thread by @kyledcheney

DOJ provides no new information on Abrego Garcia but says if he manages to return to the US, they'll detain him and remove him to a different country (not El Salvador) or seek to "terminate" his order of removal and send him back to El Salvador...

which is the lawful process. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Joseph Mazzara, ICE's general counsel, filed this update with the court. He also is present in court today.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers say there's no evidence the Trump administration has done anything to comply with the order to facilitate his return from El Salvador. They want depositions, interrogatories and documents.

XINIS: Every day Abrego Garcia is in CECOT is "a day of further irreparable harm."

"If not this court, then who, to engage in process. It’s process that is in the roots of our constitution, so we have to give process to both sides. But we’re going to move. There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding."

XINIS says @nayibbukele's comments in the oval office were not "a nonresponsive answer" to her questions.

"If that were in a court of law — it would have real infirmities in a trial, in a court of law. It is not a direct response, nor is the quip about smuggling someone into the United States."

If the government were "facilitating" his return, there would be no "smuggling," she notes.

MORE: XINIS says to buckle up for "two weeks of intensive discovery."

"We’re going to do this by the federal rules of civil procedure. So no press release is going to move the court the same way that sworn, under oath testimony from persons with knowledge … if you have objections, you’re going to have to make them consistent with the rules."

@nayibbukele XINIS says the administration's definition of "facilitate" flies in the face of the plain meaning of the word. "When a wrongufully removed individual [is outside US borders] it's not so cut-and-dried that all you have to do is remove obstacles domestically."

@nayibbukele XINIS says she begins with what SCOTUS "wnequivocally found to be lawful." To DOJ, she says, "You made your jurisdictional arguments, you made your venue arguments. You made your arguments on the merits. You lost. This is now about the scope of the remedy."

XINIS says it's premature to talk about a judge's power to request Abrego Garcia's return from El Salvador. It's not something she's ordering and she's very willing to be persuaded she doesn't have that power.

"There’s so much daylight between what you’re actually saying and where this case is."

@nayibbukele Xinis said plaintiffs will, if they choose, conduct depositions by April 23 with the four DHS/ICE/State affiants who have already filed updates with the court.

XINIS emphasizes this will move *fast."

"Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments. I’m usually pretty good about that … Not this time. I will be flexible if you need to accommodate [depositions] in the courthouse. I’m going to be available if you need to do it at odd hours or weekends. That’s what I’m talking about."

@nayibbukele AND WE'RE DONE: Hearing over. Judge Xinis says she's ready to move quickly to get the facts so she can rule on what must be done. Going to be a busy two weeks.

@nayibbukele NEW: A federal judge is ordering an "intense" two-week inquiry into the administration's refusal to seek Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. — “We’re going to move. There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding."

w/ @joshgerstein

politico.com/news/2025/04/1…

@nayibbukele @joshgerstein UPDATE: Judge Xinis says the government’s definition of “facilitate“ doesn’t make any sense, especially in the context of her ruling in the Supreme Court’s. Here is her discovery order: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

@nayibbukele @joshgerstein JUST IN: Sen. Van Hollen says he is going to El Salvador tomorrow to see if he can talk to Abrego Garcia.