Additional Coverage:
- ICE official struggles to answer questions about Abrego Garcia’s possible deportation (abcnews.go.com)
ICE Official Stumbles in Court Over Deportation Plans for Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Baltimore, MD – A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official faced a grilling in court on Thursday, struggling to answer fundamental questions regarding the potential deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The official also admitted that his sworn declaration, crucial to the case, was largely drafted by someone else.
John Cantu was called to testify in an evidentiary hearing to explain why the government is opting to deport Abrego Garcia to the West African nation of Liberia, rather than his preferred destination of Costa Rica.
Under scrutiny from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, Cantu admitted to not fully understanding parts of his own sealed declaration, which detailed the government’s communications with Costa Rica. When pressed on the specifics of those communications, Cantu revealed that a State Department attorney had provided him with the “verbiage” for his declaration.
“Sitting here today, you could not tell me whether anyone from the State Department has been in touch with Costa Rica since August 21, to determine whether communications have changed?” asked Sascha Rand, an attorney for Abrego Garcia.
“That’s right,” Cantu conceded.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis interjected, asking Cantu, “Mr.
Cantu, when you say Costa Rica is not an option for removal… where does that come from?” Cantu’s response, “Counsel,” referring to the State Department attorney, prompted Judge Xinis to declare, “The point has been made that this witness knows zero information about the content of the declaration.”
Cantu later admitted he had no prior involvement in Abrego Garcia’s case before November, with his only contribution being a “five minute Teams call” with the Department of State attorney.
Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was controversially deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison. This occurred despite a 2019 court order prohibiting his deportation to that country due to fears of persecution. The Trump administration had claimed he was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation Abrego Garcia denies.
He was subsequently returned to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty. His criminal trial is slated for January.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation is currently blocked by Judge Xinis pending the resolution of a habeas case challenging his removal. He is currently held in a Pennsylvania detention center.
During Thursday’s hearing, Abrego Garcia’s attorney also highlighted the government’s failure to produce a final removal order in the case, noting only an existing order for withholding of removal to El Salvador. The attorney argued that deporting an individual without a final order of removal would constitute a “due process violation,” urging the judge to either mandate the government to demonstrate a constitutionally valid basis for removal or order Abrego Garcia’s immediate release from immigration detention.
“The entire structure the government has built crumbles if there is no final order of removal demonstrated,” the attorney asserted.
Drew Ensign, representing the government, countered that Abrego Garcia’s order withholding removal to El Salvador implied the existence of a prior final order of removal. Judge Xinis pushed back, stating, “There is a very strong argument for Mr. Abrego that third country removal is derivative of a valid removal order, and from the beginning, your former colleague agreed that there is no order of removal in the record.”
When Ensign described it as “odd” for Abrego Garcia to concede to go to Costa Rica without a removal order, Judge Xinis retorted, “It’s a concession because he’s been to CECOT and back. And Costa Rica will not put him in a detention center where he could be harmed.”
Pressed on the government’s refusal to send Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica, Ensign suggested that the Salvadoran native could apply to move to Costa Rica after being removed to Liberia. “Why make him do that though?”
Judge Xinis questioned. “Costa Rica says, ‘We’ll give you the papers.’
Why is the government standing in the way of that?”
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys maintain that the U.S. government has disregarded their client’s “statutory designation” of Costa Rica, despite previous assurances from the country that it would accept him and grant him refugee or resident status.