Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in the U.S. and facing criminal charges, but his lawyers are still trying to keep alive the civil case that prompted his return. The Trump administration argues the civil case is now moot, but Abrego’s lawyers say it’s not that simple.
One of the reasons the lawyers cite is the potential for contempt sanctions against the government for its conduct in the case, which has been one of the most high-profile examples in President Donald Trump’s second term of his administration resisting court orders in service of his immigration agenda.
“A court retains jurisdiction to enforce its own orders and to impose sanctions and contempt,” they wrote to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who ordered Abrego’s return in April. Opposing the government’s dismissal motion, they wrote Monday that the government “has violated several orders of this Court, including discovery orders and the preliminary injunction” that Xinis issued for his return.
They also cited the new whistleblower claims from a former Justice Department lawyer that emerged ahead of DOJ official Emil Bove’s judicial confirmation hearing last week. Allegations of government misconduct from that lawyer, Erez Reuveni, touched on several high-profile cases including Abrego’s. In their motion Monday, Abrego’s lawyers highlighted a passage from Reuveni’s whistleblower letter that said, “It has been the prior practice going back years in situations where DHS removed someone in error to seek to resolve...
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