The federal judge will hear the argument of the administration of Trump to hold back information about the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal judge in Maryland will hear arguments on Friday as to whether the Trump government can appoint the privilege of state secrets to withhold information about the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the USA.

The US district judge Paula Xinis ordered the return of Abrego Garcia from El Salvador in April and has instructed the administration since then to state documents and testimonies that show what it did, if at all, to comply with them.

Trump administration lawyers claim that many of these details are protected, including sensitive diplomatic negotiations. The unveiling of the details would affect national security, since foreign governments “would be less likely to work with the United States”, they argued in a letter to the court.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers claim that the administration did not show “the slightest effort” in order to call it up after his wrong deportation. And they refer to President Donald Trump's interview last month with ABC News, in which he said he could bring Abrego Garcia back, but not.

“Even if the government speaks freely about Abrego Garcia in this legal dispute, it insists on confidentiality in this legal dispute,” wrote Abego Garcia's lawyers to the court.

The focus of the hearing on Friday will be a legal doctrine that is used more frequently in cases in which the military and espionage agencies are involved. Xini's decision could affect the central question that emerges about the case: Has the Trump government followed its command to bring Abrego Garcia back?

The Trump administration deported the construction worker of Maryland to El Salvador in March. The displacement violated the order of a US immigration judge in 2019 that Abego Garcia was protected from the deportation to his home country because he was probably persecuted by a local gang that had terrorized his family.

The American woman of Abrego Garcia sued and Xinis ordered his return on April 4th. On April 10, the Supreme Court decided that the government had to work to bring it back.

Xinis later lamed the administration because he did not explain what it did to call him up, and instructed the government to prove that it was followed. The Trump administration appealed, but Xinis supported the Court of Appeal in a brilliant arrangement.

The debate about the privilege of state secrets is the latest development in this case.

In a legal letter submitted on Monday, the lawyers of the Trump administration announced that they had provided extensive information, including 1,027 pages with documents to show that they follow the judge's order.

They argued that the Lego Garcia legal team now “tries to” put in the privileged internal functioning of the US government apparatus and its communication with a foreign government “.

“Almost all additional materials that the plaintiffs' request from state secrets and advisory processes can be protected and therefore cannot be produced,” wrote US lawyers.

In her letter, Abrego Garcia's lawyers asked the judge to be skeptical and wrote that the privilege of state secrets is not to hide government errors or misconduct.

The Abrego Garcia lawyers found that the US lawyers followed Xinis' command in court, “Senior officials of the President to Down said the opposite of the American public.”

For example, they quoted a statement by the Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 16, who said: “He does not return to our country.”

“Official statements by the government – in congress statements, television interviews and social media – repeatedly confirm that creating this information would not endanger national security,” wrote Abego Garcia's lawyers.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in front of a federal court in Greenbelt.

Trump administration officers said that Abrego Garcia had been deprived of Maryland's allegations that he was an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia denied the claim and was never charged because of a crime, his lawyers said.

The administration later admitted that Abrego Garcia's deportation to El Salvador was an “administrative error” due to the arrangement of the immigration judge in 2019. But Trump and others continued to insist that Abrego Garcia was in MS-13.