'Nothing has been done' - judge warns Trump officials in deportation case

A federal judge has given the Trump administration two weeks to submit evidence on how it is trying to return a Maryland man who officials have conceded was wrongly deported last month to a mega-prison in El Salvador.

Judge Paula Xinis accused government officials of inaction in the case of Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García, warning "there will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding".

She said she would determine whether the government had acted in good faith or was in contempt of court.

The Supreme Court has ordered the administration to "facilitate" the 29-year-old's release, though El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said on a visit to the White House on Monday he did not "have the power" to return him.

On Tuesday, Judge Xinis told justice department lawyers at a Greenbelt, Maryland, court hearing: "To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing."

"Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments," she said, adding: "I expect all hands on deck."

She said she would require four officials with the US homeland security department and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to answer questions under oath by 23 April.

Judge Xinis, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, last Friday requested daily updates from the government about steps they are taking to return Mr Ábrego García.

In court on Tuesday, justice department lawyer Drew Ensign said they would facilitate Mr Ábrego García's return if he "presents himself at a port of entry".

However, shortly before the hearing, the homeland security department indicated otherwise.

Joseph Mazzarra, acting general counsel of the agency, wrote in a court filing that if Mr Ábrego García did show up at a US port of entry, he would be detained.

He would either be removed to a third country, or the department would ask an immigration judge to strip him of legal protection from deportation granted six years ago, said the filing.

Before Tuesday's hearing, Mr Ábrego García's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, called for her husband to be allowed back.

"I find myself pleading with the Trump administration and the Bukele administration to stop playing political games with the life of Kilmar," she told a crowd of protesters.

The Trump administration maintains Mr Ábrego García has ties to the MS-13 gang. His legal team denies this and says he has never been charged with any crime in the US or El Salvador.

A 2019 court order shielded Mr Ábrego García from deportation on the grounds that he might be at risk of persecution from gangs in his home country.

Last Friday a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court noted the government's acknowledgements that Mr Ábrego García had legal protection and "that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal".

Earlier this month another government lawyer told Judge Xinis that Mr Ábrego García had been deported on 15 March in "administrative error". The justice department then suspended that attorney.

At the White House on Monday, deputy chief of staff Steven Miller told reporters: "Nobody was mistakenly deported anywhere."

"The only mistake that was made is a lawyer put an incorrect line in a legal filing that's since been relieved," he added.

A contempt of court ruling would escalate the Trump administration's constitutional showdown with the judiciary, finding that it had disregarded an independent and equal branch of US government.

But the Trump administration says it is Judge Xinis who is overstepping her powers as a federal judge by meddling in the executive branch's ability to conduct foreign policy.

While the US Supreme Court last Friday partially upheld Judge Xinis's ruling in favour of Mr Ábrego García, the justices also questioned whether she exceeded her authority when she directed the government to " effectuate" his return.

Mr Ábrego García is one of more than 200 Venezuelans and Salvadorans, labelled by Trump officials as gang members, who were deported to the El Salvador mega-prison on 15 March.

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen announced that he would travel to El Salvador on Wednesday in the hope of visiting Mr Ábrego García to "check on his wellbeing" and ask the country's government for his release.