U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is overseeing a legal battle involving the Trump administration’s use of state secrets and other executive privileges in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national mistakenly deported from the United States. Abrego Garcia had been granted protection from deportation in 2019 due to threats from gangs in El Salvador but was nonetheless removed and detained at the country’s high-security CECOT prison in March 2025.
The administration has cited the state secrets privilege, attorney-client privilege, and deliberate process protections in response to court orders for documents and depositions related to Abrego Garcia’s removal and possible return. Judge Xinis has demanded specific justifications for each privilege claim and ordered both sides to submit detailed filings by Monday, with a hearing scheduled for May 16, 2025, in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Xinis has previously criticized the administration for what she called a “willful and bad faith refusal” to meet discovery obligations. Despite a Supreme Court directive requiring the administration to assist in returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S., officials have stated that his release is under El Salvador’s jurisdiction. His legal team disputes government claims linking him to gang activity and maintains he has no criminal record in any country.
Reference:
Quinn, Melissa. “ Trump administration invokes state secrets privilege in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case” CBS News. May 8, 2025.
