{"id":114551,"date":"2025-04-11T13:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T21:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/11\/chief-justices-plan-to-give-presidents-a-little-rendition-as-a-treat-explodes-on-impact-at-trial-court\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T13:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T21:03:08","slug":"chief-justices-plan-to-give-presidents-a-little-rendition-as-a-treat-explodes-on-impact-at-trial-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/11\/chief-justices-plan-to-give-presidents-a-little-rendition-as-a-treat-explodes-on-impact-at-trial-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief Justice\u2019s Plan To Give Presidents A Little Rendition As A Treat Explodes On Impact At Trial Court"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, the Supreme Court did the bare minimum<\/a> to force the Trump administration to follow the law. More than three weeks after a man was illegally renditioned to a Salvadoran gulag, the justices ordered the government to start thinking about getting him back. At some point. If it\u2019s not too much trouble.<\/p>\n

Slow fucking clap.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, came to the United States when he was 16. He was granted an order withholding removal to his native El Salvador after convincing an immigration judge in 2019 that he was likely to be killed by the MS-13 gang. Nevertheless, he was deported to El Salvador on March 15, based on the government\u2019s claim that he is himself a member of MS-13. The Justice Department presented zero evidence in court to back up this claim, although White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pinky promises<\/a> that she\u2019s seen the proof. Instead, when the man\u2019s American wife sued in federal court in Maryland, it sneered that renditioning a person, even in violation of court order, put him beyond the jurisdiction of American courts. <\/p>\n

On Friday April 4, Judge Paula Xinis ordered<\/a> the government to get Abrego Garcia back by midnight Monday. The Fourth Circuit told the DOJ to get bent, but hours before the deadline, the Supreme Court swept in and administratively stayed Judge Xinis\u2019s edict. <\/p>\n

Finally, last night the majority issued an unsigned, three-paragraph opinion<\/a>, upholding Judge Xinis\u2019s order \u2014 minus the deadline \u2014 with a caution that the trial court should \u201cclarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.\u201d The Court mumbled some nonsense (cribbed from Judge Wilkinson\u2019s concurrence<\/a> below) about differentiating between \u201ceffectuating\u201d and \u201cfacilitating\u201d the return of a man everyone agrees was illegally deported, and instructed the government to \u201cbe prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Chief Justice Roberts aimed<\/a> to avoid a crisis<\/a> where the government stands in open defiance of a federal judge, he managed to hold it off for less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Judge Xinis immediately set a hearing for 1pm today<\/em> and ordered<\/a> the government to explain by 9:30am \u201c(1) the current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia; (2) what steps, if any, Defendants have taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia\u2019s immediate return to the United States; and (3) what additional steps Defendants will take, and when, to facilitate his return.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the DOJ complained<\/a> that it could not possibly comply with such a short deadline, huffily protesting that the court was disregarding the \u201cdue regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch\u201d mandated by the Supreme Court\u2019s order, the judge relented<\/a>. She gave them until 11:30am to turn in their homework. LOL.<\/em><\/p>\n

At 12:15, 45 minutes after the deadline, the government docketed the equivalent of two middle fingers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Defendants are not in a position where they \u201ccan\u201d share any information requested by the Court. That is the reality. Defendants received the order late in the evening last night. They are reviewing the order and actively evaluating next steps. It is unreasonable and impracticable for Defendants to reveal potential steps before those steps are reviewed, agreed upon, and vetted. Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Notably, this filing had four attorneys\u2019 names and no signature, wet or otherwise.<\/p>\n

As of this writing, the hearing is still ongoing. According to Lawfare\u2019s Anna Bower, who is live-posting it, the government remains outright defiant.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Drew Ensign, who has represented the gov in the JGG matter before Judge Boasberg, is here for DOJ. Judge Xinis begins by explaining why we’re here: SCOTUS ruled, and directed the court to clarify its order re: “effectuating” the return of Garcia<\/p>\n

\u2014 Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-04-11T17:01:36.595Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Can we get another round of applause for the Chief? This plan to throw District Court judges under the bus as a means of appeasing the executive is working out fantastic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Abrego Garcia v. Noem<\/a> [District Docket via Court Listener]<\/p>\n

Noem v. Abrego Garcia<\/a> [SCOTUS Docket]<\/p>\n

\n

Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0lives in Baltimore where she produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0substack<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The post Chief Justice\u2019s Plan To Give Presidents A Little Rendition As A Treat Explodes On Impact At Trial Court<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, the Supreme Court did the bare minimum<\/a> to force the Trump administration to follow the law. More than three weeks after a man was illegally renditioned to a Salvadoran gulag, the justices ordered the government to start thinking about getting him back. At some point. If it\u2019s not too much trouble.<\/p>\n

Slow fucking clap.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, came to the United States when he was 16. He was granted an order withholding removal to his native El Salvador after convincing an immigration judge in 2019 that he was likely to be killed by the MS-13 gang. Nevertheless, he was deported to El Salvador on March 15, based on the government\u2019s claim that he is himself a member of MS-13. The Justice Department presented zero evidence in court to back up this claim, although White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pinky promises<\/a> that she\u2019s seen the proof. Instead, when the man\u2019s American wife sued in federal court in Maryland, it sneered that renditioning a person, even in violation of court order, put him beyond the jurisdiction of American courts. <\/p>\n

On Friday April 4, Judge Paula Xinis ordered<\/a> the government to get Abrego Garcia back by midnight Monday. The Fourth Circuit told the DOJ to get bent, but hours before the deadline, the Supreme Court swept in and administratively stayed Judge Xinis\u2019s edict. <\/p>\n

Finally, last night the majority issued an unsigned, three-paragraph opinion<\/a>, upholding Judge Xinis\u2019s order \u2014 minus the deadline \u2014 with a caution that the trial court should \u201cclarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.\u201d The Court mumbled some nonsense (cribbed from Judge Wilkinson\u2019s concurrence<\/a> below) about differentiating between \u201ceffectuating\u201d and \u201cfacilitating\u201d the return of a man everyone agrees was illegally deported, and instructed the government to \u201cbe prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Chief Justice Roberts aimed<\/a> to avoid a crisis<\/a> where the government stands in open defiance of a federal judge, he managed to hold it off for less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Judge Xinis immediately set a hearing for 1pm today<\/em> and ordered<\/a> the government to explain by 9:30am \u201c(1) the current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia; (2) what steps, if any, Defendants have taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia\u2019s immediate return to the United States; and (3) what additional steps Defendants will take, and when, to facilitate his return.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the DOJ complained<\/a> that it could not possibly comply with such a short deadline, huffily protesting that the court was disregarding the \u201cdue regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch\u201d mandated by the Supreme Court\u2019s order, the judge relented<\/a>. She gave them until 11:30am to turn in their homework. LOL.<\/em><\/p>\n

At 12:15, 45 minutes after the deadline, the government docketed the equivalent of two middle fingers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Defendants are not in a position where they \u201ccan\u201d share any information requested by the Court. That is the reality. Defendants received the order late in the evening last night. They are reviewing the order and actively evaluating next steps. It is unreasonable and impracticable for Defendants to reveal potential steps before those steps are reviewed, agreed upon, and vetted. Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Notably, this filing had four attorneys\u2019 names and no signature, wet or otherwise.<\/p>\n

As of this writing, the hearing is still ongoing. According to Lawfare\u2019s Anna Bower, who is live-posting it, the government remains outright defiant.<\/p>\n

Can we get another round of applause for the Chief? This plan to throw District Court judges under the bus as a means of appeasing the executive is working out fantastic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Abrego Garcia v. Noem<\/a> [District Docket via Court Listener]<\/p>\n

Noem v. Abrego Garcia<\/a> [SCOTUS Docket]<\/p>\n

\n

Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0lives in Baltimore where she produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0substack<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the Supreme Court did the bare minimum to force the Trump administration to follow the law. More than three weeks after a man was illegally renditioned to a Salvadoran gulag, the justices ordered the government to start thinking about getting him back. At some point. If it\u2019s not too much trouble. Slow fucking clap. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":114525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Shrug-Roberts-Z2wlmV.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}