Judge Xinis Holds Emergency Hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case
The court demanded answers after DHS tried to push a new deportation plan based on a news article with no proof of any agreement.
Today at 2 p.m., Judge Paula Xinis held an emergency hearing to demand answers from the government. Why? DHS had just claimed that Liberia agreed to take Kilmar Abrego Garcia in direct violation of her court orders and basic due process.
When asked for proof that Liberia had agreed to this, they cited an unverified news article. Not an agreement between DHS & Liberia. Not a letter. Just a vague story that never mentioned the U.S., never referenced a deal, and somehow was supposed to justify removing him again. No formal documentation. No signatories.
Just a narrative convenient enough to make someone disappear.
For those not caught up, Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been back in DHS custody since late August.
He showed up for a routine ICE check-in in Baltimore and never walked out. The government locked him back up, and they’ve been scrambling ever since to find a legal pathway to finish what they started.
So far, they’ve tried removing him to Ghana, Uganda, and Eswatini without success.
The court told DHS two weeks ago that the record was closed. End of story. Stop trying to send him places. There were to be no new filings. No last-minute twists. But DHS didn’t care. Instead of stepping back, they doubled down.
And just minutes before today’s hearing, ICE quietly scheduled Kilmar’s credible fear interview — a very important part of his asylum case — for the exact same time as the hearing itself.
Judge Xinis called it what it was — “completely unacceptable.”
She said there was no way ICE or DHS didn’t know about the hearing. She accused them of procedural sabotage and told them straight up it wasn’t going to fly in her courtroom.
She ordered the interview to be rescheduled. And DHS, caught red-handed, backed down.
Is Kilmar Being Sent to Liberia?
Xinis asked for proof of this deal. DHS first claimed Liberia agreed to take Kilmar by citing a news article that didn’t mention the U.S. or any deal.
Later, they submitted four sealed documents to the court, but Judge Xinis said the filings lacked signatures, names, or clear proof and called the evidence too thin to rely on. The government then admitted they still don’t have a formal agreement with Liberia. They’re still “trying to confirm” it.
And made it clear she’s not making decisions based on press releases or midnight file dumps done right before the weekend.
Kilmar’s legal team warned that the move looks like a setup. Liberia, they said, could be a temporary stop — a way to move Kilmar out of reach so DHS can quietly send him back to El Salvador once court scrutiny fades.
This is something the Trump Administration infamously likes to do. Just like with Alligator Alcatraz and Guantanamo Bay. They back down just long enough to get it out the public eye, Trump says some egregious shit, and people are so focused on his theatrics while they quietly move assuming any new headlines are old news.
Judge Xinis agreed that possibility of them doing just that is real. She said it’s not enough for a country to take him for a short time if the goal is to deport him again the moment no one’s looking.
She also called the fact that Kilmar is facing a criminal trial next week. He still has an active asylum appeal. And now DHS says they want him gone by Friday. Xinis said that if the government deports him now, it guts the criminal case.
They want him gone, because they know their case has no legal standing and will fall apart on the stand.
Her words were blunt. “I don’t believe a criminal case can go forward if there’s no defendant.”
A Court Order Is The Only Thing Stopping His Deportation
Xinis reminded everyone that her injunction still stands.
The injunction is a court order that prevents DHS from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia until Judge Xinis reviews all legal issues and gives explicit permission for his removal.
This means DHS cannot deport Kilmar unless they file a formal motion to lift it. If they try, she said, they’ll need to come with real evidence and full legal arguments. No back doors. No shortcuts.
The government says it wants to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country, pointing to this memo as part of its reason — even though he still has an open asylum case and a criminal trial coming up.
She also asked DHS directly if Liberia is the final destination or if they’re still eyeing Costa Rica. The irony here is thick — Costa Rica already agreed to take him months ago.
So, if she did dissolve the injunction, why not there? Why Liberia?
DHS keeps reaching for new countries, and Liberia is the fourth one after Uganda, Eswatini, and Ghana all fell through.
Because the entire reason they’re trying to deport him is to ‘punish’ him for making them look back. These are all countries rampant with humans rights abuses according to Secretary of State reports.
Click the names to see the reports for yourself — Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, Eswatini.
She also pressed on something deeper. One agency is trying to deport Kilmar. Another is trying to prosecute him. The government claims they’re not coordinating. She made it clear that doesn’t add up.
“It doesn’t pass the sniff test,” she said.
She ended it by letting DHS know she is watching both dockets, and she’s not chasing a moving target. He needs to stay in the country. End of story.
You cannot have a criminal trial if the government ships the defendant out of the country before it starts. The hearing ended with orders. Both sides must meet today and file the schedule by 9 a.m. on October 28th, 2025 (tomorrow).
What Happens Next?
This simply means both Kilmar’s lawyers and the government have to send the judge a written plan that lays out what happens next. This includes the next court dates and when they’ll each file their legal arguments.
This filing must also include written arguments about whether Trump’s expedited removal memo is legal. DHS is citing this memo as their justification to remove Kilmar before he can ever appear in court.
This is the memo from earlier this year that says if an immigrant has been here less than 2 years, they are to be removed through “expedited removal” without ever having their day in immigration court.
They feel that because he was wrongfully deported once and reentered the U.S., he now counts as a new arrival — even though he was returning to his home, his family, and his active legal cases.
It’s a strategy to keep him from ever having his day in court. Criminal or immigration.
If Judge Xinis finds the memo unconstitutional or unlawful, it could set the precedent to DHS from using expedited removal in Kilmar’s case and other cases entirely.
Judge Xinis closed with a quiet warning. She said she’s available whenever they are. She will not let this case be buried.
The government walked into court with nothing but secret files, vague claims, and a plan to vanish a man they already disappeared once. Judge Xinis walked in with receipts and a long memory. She is not letting go.
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The cruelty was always the point 💔🥺🤢
Pure EVIL
This is such good news! Fingers crossed 🤞💕
They can’t and won’t admit they are wrong.