The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit overKilmar Abrego Garcia ’s mistaken deportation to El Salvador, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction because he’s no longer in the United States.
The request for dismissal late Tuesday was a procedural move by the U.S. government, which was required to respond to Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit within 60 days. U.S. attorneys reiterated their arguments from late March against his return.
The government’s filing is the latest development in a case that has carried on for two months without any discernible movement toward resolution, despite a judge’s order to bring back Abrego Garcia and a subsequent Supreme Court ruling to “facilitate” his return.
President Donald Trump told ABC News in late April that he could retrieve Abrego Garcia with a phone call to El Salvador’s president. But Trump said he wouldn’t do it because Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, an allegation that Abrego Garcia denies and for which he was never charged.
Trump administration attorneys have not used the president’s plainspoken explanation inside the Maryland federal court that ordered Abrego Garcia’s return. They’ve argued that information about returning Abrego Garcia is protected by the state secrets privilege, a legal doctrine often used in military cases.
U.S. attorneys said releasing such details in open court — or even to the judge in private – would jeopardize national security by revealing sensitive diplomatic negotiations. Many filings in the case have been sealed.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have argued that the Trump administration has done nothing to return the Maryland construction worker. They say the government is invoking the privilege to hide behind the misconduct of mistakenly deporting him and refusing to bring him back.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shielded Abrego Garcia from expulsion to his native country. The immigration judge determined that Abrego Garcia faced likely persecution by a local Salvadoran gang that terrorized his family.
Abrego Garcia’s American wife sued over his deportation, and U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered his return on April 4. The Supreme Court ruled on April 10 that the administration must work to bring him back.
Xinis is yet to rule on the U.S. government’s state secrets claim. During a May 16 hearing, she said the government’s explanation for invoking it was inadequate and gave the Trump administration extra time to provide more information.
Xinis is yet to rule on the Trump administration’s motion Tuesday to dismiss Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit. Hours before filing the motion, the U.S. government had asked Xinis for a 30-day extension.
She denied the request.
“The Court has conducted no fewer than five hearings in this case and at no point had Defendants even intimated they needed more time to answer or otherwise respond,” Xinis wrote.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, said in a statement that the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss was “a retread of arguments they’ve already made that have already been rejected, filed just to meet a deadline.”
