The legal battle over the Trump administration’s efforts — or lack thereof — to return a mistakenly deported Maryland migrant may eventually wind up back before the Supreme Court as President Trump tests the limits of his executive power.
The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia already reached the high court, but on Tuesday, it was the centerpiece of a tense hearing in Greenbelt, Md., where U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said the Justice Department’s foot-dragging means she will now seek sworn depositions from federal officials “to determine whether you are abiding by the court order. My court orders.”
The judge has appeared exasperated since last week, when Abrego Garcia’s limbo as a migrant without U.S. legal status landed back in her court after the Supreme Court largely endorsed her order that the administration work to bring him back to the U.S.