Justice Department officials told a federal judge that they plan to begin removal proceedings to deport Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a third country as early as this month — just one extraordinary admission of many heard by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in a wide-ranging, hours-long hearing on Monday that ended with little in the way of satisfactory answers for all parties.

Xinis ordered the Trump administration to produce a government official to testify under oath Thursday about plans to take Abrego Garcia into ICE custody upon his release from criminal custody in Tennessee and begin deportation proceedings to a third country. 

Lawyers for the Trump administration ultimately conceded Monday that Abrego Garcia could be removed from the U.S. as early as July 16 — just nine days from today. 

The admission capped a remarkable day in court, and a frustrating one, which Xinis described as akin to "trying to nail Jell-O to a wall," as she attempted to ascertain the government's next steps. She repeatedly questioned how officials could pursue immediate deportation while simultaneously mounting a federal criminal case against Abrego Garcia. 

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Asked by Xinis whether the government planned to hold Abrego Garcia in ICE custody until his criminal case in Tennessee is over, lawyers for the administration did not mince their words.

"No," Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn answered simply. 

"There’s no intention to just put him in limbo in ICE custody while we wait for the criminal case to unfold," Guynn told Xinis. "He will be removed, as would any other illegal alien in that process."

The fast-paced timeline by which Justice Department officials plan to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country was just one of many issues heard by Xinis, the Maryland judge who has been presiding over his civil case since March, when Trump officials erroneously deported him to El Salvador.

Xinis last week ordered both parties to appear in court for the first time since May, to consider a flurry of dueling motions that the Trump administration and lawyers for Abrego Garcia had submitted after his return to the U.S. last month.

The judge did not immediately rule on each of the motions on Monday. 

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She did, however, flatly reject two of the government's motions to dismiss the civil case, rejecting the Trump administration's previous claims that it had no "power to compel" El Salvador to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. as "meritless." 

She also pressed Justice Department officials for details as to when they opened a federal investigation into Abrego Garcia in a separate district for actions stemming from a 2022 traffic stop, and how the timing of the investigation and federal indictment squared with the government's testimony in her own court. 

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Xinis honed in on these dueling timelines Monday, noting that, by the government’s own admission, it began investigating Abrego Garcia in the Middle District in Tennessee on April 28, 2025 — the same time officials were telling the court that the administration was powerless to order a foreign government to return Abrego Garcia, in compliance with the court order.

"At the same time that [the government] was saying it had ‘no power to produce’" Abrego Garcia in the U.S., Trump administration officials had "already secured an indictment against him in the Middle District of Tennessee, right?" Xinis asked Justice Department lawyer Bridget O'Hickey.

"Yes your honor," O’Hickey replied. 

An incredulous Xinis noted that, just six days later, the government testified they had no power to bring him back to the U.S.

"Now I have real concerns — as if I haven't for the last three months," Xinis noted in response.

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Xinis ended the hearing Monday by ordering the Trump administration to produce a witness from the Department of Homeland Security to testify in court Thursday as to the government's plans to deport Abrego Gacia, again, from the U.S. and to a third country.

She said this official must have personal knowledge of the government's plans, and testify under oath as to the "who, what, when, and where" of the government's plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country.

"Given the series of unlawful actions" here, I feel like it’s well within my authority to order this hearing — perhaps more than one — to hear testimony from at least one witness with firsthand knowledge, who can answer these questions about the immediate next steps" from the government pending Abrego Garca's release from custody, she said.

Another point of contention was the matter of jurisdiction. Trump officials argued Monday that Xinis no longer has a say over Abrego Garcia’s custodial status, or in any future immigration proceedings involving Abrego Garcia — a point refuted sharply and repeatedly by the judge.

"No, I do have jurisdiction," she shot back at one point. "That ship has sailed," she said.

"Without any indication that the same conduct will not repeat itself, I cannot find that the defense has met its formidable burden."