Lawyer for wrongly deported man: DOJ is delaying his return despite high court ruling
Last night, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of the Maryland man whom the U.S. government admits it wrongfully detained. He was then deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Now his lawyer is asking why the government wants more time.
Speaking to MSNBC on Friday, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, lamented that putting someone on a plane isn’t that difficult.
“It’s really — I’m quite disappointed. I mean, last night the Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0, with no dissent, that they need to bring him back,” Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “I had hoped that after that, the government would finally start acting in good faith, but it seems that they’re determined to try to kick the can and play games with this. I’m very reassured, though, that the district judge is not playing games with this, and recognizes that a man’s life is at stake here.”
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He recalled that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Justice Department lawyers to provide a declaration Friday morning explaining what they’ve done thus far to bring back Garcia.
“Now, I expect that that declaration, when they actually get around to filing it, is going to say we’ve done nothing at all,” said the lawyer. “And that’s where the district judge is going to have to really get on them to actually get started here.”
Host Ana Cabrera said that to her, it seemed like a “delay tactic.”
Sandoval-Moshenberg confessed he thought the same.
“It is, unfortunately. I mean, they need to, at the very least, come into court this afternoon and say what they’ve done so far and say what their plan is in detail, right? And one of the things that the Supreme Court order did was explain that they have to give the judge information, right?” he recalled.
“So, they’re not just going to be able to come into court and say, okay, we’re working on it, but we can’t tell you anything at all. The Supreme Court did order that they give the district judge information about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” Sandoval-Moshenberg anticipated.
Specifically, the judge wants the current physical location and custodial status and what steps they’ve taken and intend to take to facilitate his return.
The lawyer said that once the “government finally starts acting in good faith,” they can have Garcia back in 24 to 48 hours.
“I mean, it’s a five-hour flight, right? And we have planes going down there on a near-daily basis,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
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