Overview

• U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis denied the Justice Department’s request to pause proceedings, citing the case’s importance despite the federal shutdown.
• Xinis barred removal from the continental United States for now and set a Friday evidentiary hearing with a government witness who has firsthand knowledge of removal efforts.
• The judge directed the government to file by midweek any documentation of steps taken to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Eswatini or another third country.
• Ábrego García remains in ICE custody at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania as his lawyers seek release, arguing there is no imminent removal.
• Separately, a federal judge in Tennessee found a realistic likelihood of vindictive prosecution in the human-smuggling case and authorized discovery and a hearing on that claim.