Fiasco for Trump as Judge Issues Harsh Rebuke in Ábrego García Case

Here, a caveat: At times officials have followed the law, ultimately bringing Ábrego García back and releasing him this time around under judicial order. But when books are written about this and other travesties, we will likely learn that Miller lost internal battles about how far to push the envelope, with Trump losing interest at key moments or being swayed by other advisers who balked at plunging into full lawlessness. Everything we’ve seen strongly suggests this interpretation, including what was laid bare in Xinis’s extraordinary ruling.

So where does this leave us? In a strange turn, it appears no original order of removal for Ábrego García can be found, perhaps because the “withholding of removal” order is all the original judge filed. So on Thursday night, officials found another immigration judge to issue a new order of removal. As Talking Points Memo’s David Kurtz explains, this was also highly cynical, exploiting these judges’ status as executive branch officials to secure a dubious, preordained outcome. And indeed Xinis also temporarily enjoined Immigration and Customs Enforcement from taking him into custody on that basis Friday morning.

At this point, Ábrego García could end up getting deported to Costa Rica, as he’s requested. Or he could remain free on bail in the U.S. while he faces prosecution for trafficking (and there are ample signs that this too is a malicious prosecution). We don’t know what’s next. It’s all unprecedented.