section_path: "Facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return/Return to the district court/Government updates and claims
section_name: Government updates and claims
paragraph_text: Government updates and claims
  
  The Trump administration filed their April 12 update ten minutes late, where State Department official Michael Kozak cited "official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador" stating that Abrego Garcia is alive and "currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador... He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador." However, in a memo detailing the transfer, El Salvador implied the United States retained decision-making power. The Trump administration's April 12 update did not answer Xinis' questions to provide information on past and future steps to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return.
  
  The Trump administration, via ICE official Evan Katz, told the court on April 13 that it had "no updates" for Xinis' order of daily updates. While Katz acknowledged that Abrego Garcia "should not have been removed to El Salvador", Katz also wrote that Abrego Garcia "is no longer eligible for withholding of removal because of his membership in MS-13 which is now a designated foreign terrorist organization"; however, Xinis had previously ruled that there was no evidence that Abrego Garcia was part of a gang.
  
  Separately, the Trump administration told the district court on April 13 that it interpreted the order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return only as an order to "remove any domestic obstacles" in the US to Abrego Garcia's return, so there was no requirement to try to obtain Abrego Garcia from El Salvador. The Trump administration further declared that the federal judiciary had "no authority to direct" the Trump administration "to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner".
  
  The Trump administration additionally argued on April 13 against the need to provide more information about efforts to return Abrego Garcia, citing that "discovery could interfere with ongoing diplomatic discussions" with El Salvador. As for information on the Trump administration's deal with El Salvador to imprison deported immigrants, the administration argued against revealing that information due to it being classified, potentially a state secret or under attorney-client privilege.
  
  On April 14, DHS lawyer Joseph Mazzara updated the court that his department "does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation." On April 16, Mazzara told the district court that there were "no further updates" regarding the situation.
  
  The Trump administration filed their April 12 update ten minutes late, where State Department official Michael Kozak cited "official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador" stating that Abrego Garcia is alive and "currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador... He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador." However, in a memo detailing the transfer, El Salvador implied the United States retained decision-making power. The Trump administration's April 12 update did not answer Xinis' questions to provide information on past and future steps to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return.
  
  The Trump administration, via ICE official Evan Katz, told the court on April 13 that it had "no updates" for Xinis' order of daily updates. While Katz acknowledged that Abrego Garcia "should not have been removed to El Salvador", Katz also wrote that Abrego Garcia "is no longer eligible for withholding of removal because of his membership in MS-13 which is now a designated foreign terrorist organization"; however, Xinis had previously ruled that there was no evidence that Abrego Garcia was part of a gang.
  
  Separately, the Trump administration told the district court on April 13 that it interpreted the order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return only as an order to "remove any domestic obstacles" in the US to Abrego Garcia's return, so there was no requirement to try to obtain Abrego Garcia from El Salvador. The Trump administration further declared that the federal judiciary had "no authority to direct" the Trump administration "to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner".
  
  The Trump administration additionally argued on April 13 against the need to provide more information about efforts to return Abrego Garcia, citing that "discovery could interfere with ongoing diplomatic discussions" with El Salvador. As for information on the Trump administration's deal with El Salvador to imprison deported immigrants, the administration argued against revealing that information due to it being classified, potentially a state secret or under attorney-client privilege.
  
  On April 14, DHS lawyer Joseph Mazzara updated the court that his department "does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation." On April 16, Mazzara told the district court that there were "no further updates" regarding the situation.