Judge denies extension request by Trump administration

Donald Trump and his administration have been battling with the courts over the deportation of illegal immigrants, most notably that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Another court date arrived, and the administration requested an extension, which was declined, and the judge proceeded to shred the administration with a lecture about waiting until the last minute to ask for it.

We Don’t Have to Help

When the Garcia deportation was first litigated, the Trump administration lost the case in the lower courts, with the case finally going before the Supreme Court.

The Court ruled the original court did not have jurisdiction because of where the case was filed, but the Court did state that the administration needed to facilitate the return of Garcia.

The White House had also initially stated the deportation was a mistake, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt walked that back, stating, “We did not make a mistake. We have always maintained this was an individual who needed to be deported from our country. The president swore to the American public he was going to deport illegal criminals, and especially those who have been involved in violent gangs like MS-13 that have terrorized American communities.”

When Leavitt was later asked about facilitating his return, she turned into a wordsmith, saying that the administration was not responsible, but the media was not buying her interpretation of the Court's order.

I Could Return Him

Initially, the administration acted as though it had no idea where Garcia was, but then Trump threw a wrench into that claim when he was asked about returning Garcia.

At the time, Trump stated, "I could. And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that."

The media has painted Garcia as a family man, while the administration claimed he was a gang banger and human trafficker.

Since that interview, bodycam footage of a traffic stop involving Garcia has surfaced, where local officers believed he was serving as a human trafficker with a car full of undocumented immigrants.

Request Denied

The administration has been dragging its feet, and it just waited until the last second to ask the court for an extension in Garcia’s case, but the Maryland judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama-appointed judge, shot them down.

Xinis lectured the administration for waiting until the last second without ever hinting it needed more time, stating, "They vaguely complain, in two sentences, to expending ‘significant resources’ engaging in expedited discovery. But these are burdens of their own making."

She continued, "The court has conducted no fewer than five hearings in this case and at no point had defendants even intimated they needed more time to answer or otherwise respond.” She concluded, "Thus, to say now that additional time is needed to do that which the law requires rings hollow.”

As long as Trump keeps drawing Democrat-appointed judges, he is going to lose these cases. I honestly have no idea how this case will play out due to the nature of the allegations about Garcia, because if those allegations are true, his initial asylum claim comes into doubt. In other words, this case is just a hot mess.