HERE WE GO: Latest hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case is underway with Judge Xinis on the bench. XINIS says she intends to do as much of this in open court as possible, despite discussion of privileged materials. they can use the husher/phones if they need to reference confidential info, she notes.

NEW: Federal judges across the country are increasingly warning of a due process crisis caused by President Donald Trump’s deportation blitz.

Their message: If we eliminate due process for the ‘least’ of us, Americans could be next.

politico.com/news/2025/05/1… The judges’ message has sharpened amid Trump’s increasingly aggressive effort to short-circuit due process for those he deems. And it’s coming from judges appointed by presidents of both parties — including Trump himself.

politico.com/news/2025/05/1…

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Boasberg is pressing DOJ about Trump's comment that he could pick up the phone and have El Salvador send back Abrego Garcia. Doesn't that mean U.S. effectively has custody over deported migrants, he's asking?

DOJ LAWYER ABISHEK KAMBLI:
“That goes toward the president’s belief about the influence that he has.”

"Influence does not equate to constructive custody." JEB: “Is the United States paying El Salvador to house these migrants?”

KAMBLI: “There is no agreement or arrangement whereby the United States maintains any agency or control over these prisoners.”

JEB: But there’s a formal notice of a $4.76 million grant to El Salvador dated March 22

KAMBLI: There were grants that were made to El Salvador for law enforcement and anti-crime purposes that can be used.

In late night filing, Trump administration advances new legal arguments re: Alien Enemies Act.

1) U.S. has no “enforceable” agreement with El Salvador to retain custody over deported migrants. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
2) “Vague” statements by U.S. officials about paying El Salvador for detention of deportees are not enough. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

BREAKING: A judge has ordered the immediate release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student detained amid Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.

@liz_crampton was in the Vermont courthouse where the decision just came down.

Details TK He's already out 📸: @liz_crampton

https://x.com/liz_crampton/status/1917591333948084308

NEWS: After canceling thousands of foreign students' immigration records — threatening their ability to study and live in the US — the Trump administration has reversed course and restored them all.

It follows intense pushback from courts across the country.

Details TK ICE had terminated the records of thousands of students from a federal database called SEVIS that tracks their legal status in the country. The effect of those terminations was in dispute, but many students said they had been barred from continuing their studies and were at risk of deportation.

The reason ICE appeared to have canceled their SEVIS records? Minor legal infractions that showed up in criminal history searches — which the law explicitly says is not a basis to deny a foreign student, studying on an F1 visa, their legal status.

Now, after dozens of judges across the country flagged the likely illegality, ICE says it won't do that anymore. politico.com/news/2025/04/2…

It is unfathomable that Martin was unaware of the widely publicized allegations about Hale-Cusanelli, who he has interviewed for hours and whose case made national headlines for years after Jan.6.

https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh/status/1915421126727008635

March 13, 2021: politico.com/news/2021/03/1…

BUSY NIGHT FOR THE COURTS: Late last night, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring DOGE’s access to sensitive Social Securitt data, saying the government flouted the law to provide unfettered access to DOGE without a reasonable basis. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… ALIEN ENEMIES ACT: The Trump administration filed an emergency motion to block Judge Boasberg’s initiation of contempt proceedings, saying his suggestion of forcing the administration to prosecute itself — or bring back deported Venezuelans — is unconstitutional.”

JUST IN: Judge Boasberg finds probable cause to hold administration in contempt of court for defying his order to turn around planes, demands new details in order for officials to “purge” their contempt. Details TK BOASBERG said the evidence shows willful defiance by the Trump administration that amounts to criminal contempt. Full 46-page opinion: ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_p…

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.

JUST IN: The Trump administration says it has "no updates" for Judge Xinis about efforts to facilitate return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Reiterates that a judge in 2019 viewed him as a member of MS-13.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… THERE'S MORE: In a separate filing, the govenrment says its arrangement with El Salvador to house deportees in the notorious CECOT prison is classified. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Hello from Greenbelt, MD, a few hours before an urgently arranged court hearing in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

DOJ is under a court order to provide an update on efforts to bring him to the U.S. from El Salvador by 9:30am.

politico.com/news/2025/04/1… DOJ trying to cancel today's hearing and delay filing a response to the judge's order.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

A federal judge is not prepared to “rubber stamp” the dismissal of charges against a Jan. 6 defendant who was separately convicted of an unrelated gun charge.

Judge James Bredar is asking prosecutors to explain why they suddenly claim Trump’s pardon covers this — and to explain the “inconsistent” positions it has taken on this question over the past two months.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… DOJ has taken the position that Trump J6 pardon applies to:

1) Ben Martin (gun conviction w history of domestic violence)
2) Dan Wilson (gun conviction w a felony record)
3) Elias Costianes (gun conviction w history of drug abuse)
4) Jeremy Brown (possession of grenades, guns, classified info)

NEW: The Justice Department says Jan. 6 defendants whose convictions were wipred out by Trump are owed a refund for the restitution they paid to Congress.

politico.com/news/2025/04/0… DOJ's position came in response to a request for a refund by defendant Stacy Hager, who wants back the $500 he paid to the architect of the Capitol after his conviction.

"The government agrees that Hager is entitled to the return of those funds." politico.com/news/2025/04/0…

BREAKING: Judge McFadden has *granted * the AP’s injunction against the White House’s ban on access to the Oval Office and East Room. There are plenty of good reasons the White House could restrict access to reporters from some events, the Trump-appointed judge concluded. But singling out some outlets over viewpoint is not one of them.

Just two US senators asking questions abut random assignment in the federal US district court in DC that could be answered by ... actually paying attention to the federal district court in DC. 1/6 There are an enormous number of high-profile cases in Washington because the seat of government is here. Boasberg, over the last 4 years, probably got a lower share. of those explosive, Trump-related cases than most of his colleagues. 2/6

BREAKING: The 4th Circuit has *denied* the Trump administration's effort to resist an order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States by midnight tonight.

Judge Xinis' order is still in effect. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2588… MORE: The panel, which ruled unanimously, scolds the Justice Department for penalizing the lawyers who argued the case. "The duty of zealous representation is tempered by the duty of candor to the court ... and the duty to uphold the rule of law." s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2588…

JUST IN: Saying the Trump administration’s “grievous error” “shocks the conscience,” a federal judge has rejected their call to lift her order demanding the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… Judge Xinis notes that the prison in El Salvador is known to deprive prisoners of food, water and shelter and “fosters routine violence.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Boasberg says he believes the Trump administration "acted in bad faith" on the day of the Alien Enemies Act deportations.

Boasberg says his impression is that "if you really believed everything you did that day was legal and would survive a court challenge, you wouldn’t have operated the way you did"

He notes that Trump signed the proclamation on Friday, March 14 but it wasn't made public until Saturday the 15th in the afternoon. Yet in the meantime, ICE teed up more than 100 purported Venezuelans for summary deportation well before it was made public. Boasberg began the hearing by ticking through a set of undisputed facts, with the Trump administration lawyer agreeing to each.

-"My TROs did not order any TdA member to be released from custody"
-"The TROs did not prevent the govenrment from apprehending any TdA member."
-The TROs, he noted, also did not bar the administration from deporting any TdA member through other well-established processes.

NEW: Marko Elez is back in govt (and has been for weeks); Amy Gleason’s job is to recommend DOGE detailees to agencies (who can say no), Luke Farritor has access to 12 sensitive databases.

New details on DOGE in Saturday court filing.

w/ @joshgerstein

politico.com/news/2025/03/2… Here are the details on Farritor’s extensive access as well as the system’s Elez can see. politico.com/news/2025/03/2…

BREAKING: A second federal judge has barred the military from enforcing its ban on transgender service members. Details TK storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… Judge Settle, a George W. Bush appointee, says the Trump administration provided no evidence that transgender service members negatively affect readiness, unit cohesion or lethality.

65-page opinion: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…