US wants to withhold details in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. Judge will hear arguments

By BEN FINLEY and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press A federal judge in Maryland will hear arguments Friday over whether the Trump administration can invoke the state secrets privilege to withhold information about bringing Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States U S District Judge Paula Xinis ordered Abrego Garcia s return from El Salvador in April and has since directed the administration to provide documents and testimony showing what it has done if anything to comply Trump administration lawyers claim several of those details are protected including sensitive diplomatic negotiations Revealing the specifics would harm national shield because foreign governments would be less likely to work cooperatively with the United States they argued in a brief to the court Abrego Garcia s lawyers contend the administration hasn t shown the slightest effort toward retrieving him after his mistaken deportation And they point to President Donald Trump s interview last month with ABC News in which he stated he could bring Abrego Garcia back but won t FILE President Donald Trump holds a document with notes about Kilmar Abrego Garcia as he speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House April in Washington AP Photo Alex Brandon File Even as the Administration speaks freely about Abrego Garcia in populace in this litigation it insists on secrecy Abrego Garcia s lawyers wrote to the court The focus of Friday s hearing will be a legal doctrine that is more often used in cases involving the military and spy agencies Xinis s ruling could impact the central question looming over the incident Has the Trump administration followed her order to bring back Abrego Garcia The Trump administration deported the Maryland construction worker to El Salvador in March The expulsion violated a U S immigration judge s order in that shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to his native country because he faced likely persecution by a local gang that had terrorized his family Abrego Garcia s American wife sued and Xinis ordered his return on April The Supreme Court ruled on April that the administration must work to bring him back Jennifer Vasquez Sura the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador speaks during a news conference at CASA s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville Md Friday April AP Photo Jose Luis Magana Xinis later lambasted the administration for failing to explain what it has done to retrieve him and instructed the leadership to prove it was following her order The Trump administration appealed but the appeals court backed Xinis in a blistering order The debate over state secrets privilege is the latest enhancement in the development In a legal brief filed Monday Trump administration attorneys commented they provided extensive information including pages of documents to show they re following the judge s order They argued that Abrego Garcia s legal association is now attempting to pry into the privileged inner workings of the U S regime apparatus and its communications with a foreign ruling body Related Articles Trump s big bill faces next hurdle in Congress as GOP conservatives warn they may vote against it After Putin is a no-show at talks in Turkey Trump says he ll meet the Russian leader soon Shuli Ren Trump and Xi tone down a senseless transaction war Trump administration representatives say Secret Utility is analyzing Comey s social media post Why was Elon Musk s AI chatbot Grok preoccupied with South Africa s racial politics Nearly all the additional materials Plaintiffs demand are protected by the state secrets and deliberative process privileges and so cannot be produced U S attorneys wrote In their brief Abrego Garcia s attorneys urged the judge to be skeptical writing that the state secrets privilege is not for hiding governmental blunders or malfeasance Abrego Garcia s lawyers noted that U S attorneys claim in court to be following Xinis s order while senior officers from the President on down were saying precisely the opposite to the American inhabitants For example they cited an April announcement from Attorney General Pam Bondi who disclosed He is not coming back to our country Over and over again official statements by the Leadership in congressional testimony television interviews and social media confirm that producing this information would not imperil national protection Abrego Garcia s attorneys wrote The hearing is scheduled to start at p m in federal court in Greenbelt Trump administration agents have stated Abrego Garcia was deported based on a accusation from Maryland police that he was an MS- gang member Abrego Garcia denied the allegation and was never charged with a crime his attorneys explained The administration later acknowledged that Abrego Garcia s deportation to El Salvador was an administrative error because of the immigration judge s order But Trump and others have continued to insist that Abrego Garcia was in MS-