State Dep't official says embassy confirms Abrego Garcia is alive in El Salvador's CECOT prison

A State Department official stated in a declaration filed on Saturday in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case that, per the embassy, "Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. He is alive and secure in that facility."

It was the first time any official confirmed in writing Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts and that he is alive.

Michael G. Kozak, a longtime State Department official, submitted the declaration, which was filed on the docket about 10 minutes after the court’s 5 p.m. deadline by a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland who is working on the case.

The Justice Department did not file anything else in the case on Saturday, despite the ongoing order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis. The other questions Xinis is seeking answers about — about what the government has done and is planning to do to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia — remain completely unanswered.

Kozak asserted that Abrego Garcia “is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador,” an apparent echo of arguments made by the Justice Department throughout this case — including at the U.S. Supreme Court. There, the government argued:

The Government of El Salvador has custody of Abrego Garcia, so he cannot be returned to the United States unless the Government of El Salvador releases him. Compliance with the district court’s order thus requires the Government of El Salvador to “release Plaintiff Abrego Garcia from its prison.” Id. at 42a, 44a. The district court’s injunction thus does not just offend the sovereignty of the Government of El Salvador—though it surely does that.

This is an essential part of the government’s argument here: Once people are at the CECOT prison, they are out of the control of the U.S. government. Whether that is so — in this case, specifically, and others, including under the Alien Enemies Act — is a key part of ongoing litigation.

Beyond that, though, this is why we are dealing with what might appear to be strangely worded orders. The initial order from Xinis required that the government “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return and a current order requires that the government “facilitate” his return.

That wasn’t all that happened in the case on Saturday.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers filed a request for the government to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for its failure to comply with the court's orders in the case, particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s order. They also are seeking a more specific order from Xinis and discovery into the government’s actions in the case.

Ultimately, of course — and citing President Donald Trump’s own words — they call for their client to be brought back to Maryland.

Law Dork will have more on this story as circumstances warrant.