Gabrielle Banks
Appearances
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
Well, the hearing lasted about 25 minutes. The Supreme Court the night before this hearing, Thursday night, said, you've got to expedite this. You've got to bring this man back. He was wrongly deported. So the lower court judge called this hearing for Tuesday afternoon and said before the hearing, let us know where he is and let's get this going.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
There were instructions and the government, maybe an hour before the hearing, said, we're not going to have this for you and we can't get it for you. It's too quick. It's impracticable was the word that they used. So at the hearing, the judge said, it's very simple what I'm asking here. The instructions are, where is this guy? And in whose custody is he?
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
And what steps are you taking to bring him back? And the government said, we don't have that information. The lawyer for the government said, I don't have that information. The judge repeated many times, it's a simple question. I need someone with knowledge about this to tell me what's happening. And she said, this is a quote. She said, it's quite basic. I'm not asking for state secrets.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
I'm asking where one man who was wrongly and illegally deported from this country is. When they repeated that they couldn't answer that question and the lawyer who was there didn't know, she said, I need daily updates. Because his answer was, I'll try to get it for you by the end of Tuesday. And the judge said, this court doesn't close for the weekend under these circumstances.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
It's open all weekend. It's open in the evening. I'm going to check in with you daily until we find out where he is, whose custody he's in and when he's coming back. So the hearing is Wednesday, but every day until Wednesday, she's hoping that she can expedite it and get the answer sooner.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
The lawyer just repeatedly said he didn't have the answers in the courtroom. He did accept the statement by Obrego Garcia's family that he was at that prison in El Salvador, but said that nobody in the administration had given him this information. And he said there were three federal agencies involved. He needed time to respond to the request.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
What was interesting is outside the courtroom, the lawyer for the family, he stood with Abrego Garcia's wife and said, it's ridiculous. It's not that hard to figure this out. Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, went to El Salvador, went to this prison. The US was able to bring her back. Why can't they bring this guy back?
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
Bukele is a Trump supporter, and the feeling is very mutual. Bukele will be thanked for solving this issue for Trump and taking people, many from Venezuela, into this notorious prison. It's unclear whether they'll talk about Abrego-Garcia's case.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
You know, I think this could happen to anyone. It could certainly happen to any immigrant during this era where immigrants really feel like even people with green cards feel like it would be scary to leave the country and not be able to come back. The idea of being whisked off in this case, stuck in a notorious prison without having seen a judge or having a hearing. is frightening.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
And this man, the courts agree, both the lower court and the Supreme Court agree that it was a mistake to send him there. It was a mistake to deport him. And the idea of removal, which is a word that immigration judges use, the judge says, I'm not even going to use the word that he was removed from the country because that is a legal word. He was not legally removed.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
So I think what's upsetting to people is how hard is it to bring him home if this was a mistake?
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
It was raining pretty hard. There's maybe a couple dozen protesters outside with handmade signs. Some were covered with plastic. Some had ink dripping down their hands. It's a massive federal courthouse in Prince George's County. There were not many people coming or going from this building on a Friday afternoon, but I was in the overflow room.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
There were enough people going to this hearing that there were probably 40 or 50 reporters in the overflow room, sitting there with laptops and watching it on the big screen. It's very unusual for there to be that many reporters. Not for the Supreme Court, but for any federal district court it is. And I spoke with a couple of protesters afterward.
The Excerpt
Judge demands daily updates on return plan for man wrongly deported
One told me he was a technician at a Washington, D.C. public school. He said he doesn't know Abrego Garcia, but he got choked up talking about how upsetting it was to just imagine what had happened to him, that he hadn't been returned.