Federal judge blasts Trump team over deportation plans

The federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia's legal challenge over his arrest and removal from the United States is hauling Trump administration officials to court to get to the bottom of the government's plans for the wrongfully deported Salvadoran immigrant.

- Alex Woodward, The Independent

Abrego Garcia, whose case has been at the center of Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, is currently locked up in federal custody ahead of a trial on smuggling charges. If he’s released from pretrial detention, immigration officials intend to arrest and deport him, again, before a trial even begins, according to the Department of Justice. After government lawyers and top Trump administration officials gave a series of conflicting statements about the fate of Abrego Garcia in recent weeks, District Judge Paula Xinis is ordering officials from the Department of Homeland Security to testify about their plans for his removal — answers that may reveal whether the criminal charges against him had anything to do with complying with court orders for his return.