National

9/11 health care program restores cancer treatment certifications amid weeks of uncertainty

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(NEW YORK) — The World Trade Center Health Program is once again certifying illnesses linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks after a chaotic few weeks that left some cancer patients, including first responders, without access to treatment.

Certification is the process by which the federal program confirms that a 9/11-related illnesses qualify for treatment or compensation.

Dr. John Howard, the program’s administrator, is the only official authorized to approve these certifications, and his status was in question for weeks.

Howard was laid off in February and allegedly reinstated following public backlash; however, there were signs that he was not fully and formally reinstated, including a freeze on certifications requiring his signature as late as Thursday morning.

In an internal memo obtained by ABC News, a federal branch chief with the Health and Human Services Department wrote, “We are able to resume processing enrollments, certifications, and letters at this time.”

Dr. David Prezant, the New York City Fire Department’s chief medical officer and director of its World Trade Center Health Program, confirmed to ABC News that he received the memo, and he was once again able to treat new patients.

The notice signals a turning point after what Prezant had said were weeks of silence, confusion and life-threatening delays.

It also followed a federal order laying off 20% of its staff in April — just months after it fired, then reinstated, a spate of staff members, including Howard.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Republican who represents New York and is a longtime congressional watchdog for the program, welcomed the news and vowed to ensure that Howard remains fully reinstated.

“Any questions about Dr. Howard’s authorities as Administrator have been resolved — as confirmed directly with Dr. Howard himself,” Garbarino wrote to ABC News in a statement. “Now, enrollments and certifications that were left in limbo must be addressed immediately.”

“Let me be clear: anything that jeopardizes care for 9/11 responders and survivors is indefensible,” the statement added.

Ben Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, credited media coverage and bipartisan pressure for forcing the reversal.

“I’m glad that the 9/11 responders who need cancer care are going to get their cancer care — but they should never have been delayed,” he said.

The restoration of certification means the program can now review and approve claims from responders and survivors who have developed new conditions linked to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Certification is a key step that allows patients to begin treatment or file for compensation. Without it, clinics were forced to postpone care for some of the sickest patients.

“The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program’s Clinical Centers of Excellence and Nationwide Provider Network are continuing to provide services to Program members at this time,” a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “The Program is accepting, reviewing, and processing new enrollment applications and certification requests.”

“It’s good that certifications have resumed, but we’ve seen how quickly things can unravel,” Chevat said. “We still need full transparency and accountability to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

For now, clinics have been told they will see newly processed certifications by May 5 at the latest. The program’s staff and its supporters say they’re relieved — but remain wary about the future.

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National

2 kids, 1 adult struck by car outside church in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina

ABC News

(SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C.) — Two children and one adult were struck by a driver outside a preschool at a South Carolina church in what may have been an intentional act, authorities said.

Police are searching for the suspect following the crash at the Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivan’s Island, a beach town just outside of Charleston, according to Isle of Palms police Sgt. Matt Storen.

One child and one adult were taken to hospitals in unknown conditions and the third victim was treated at the scene and released, police said.

The suspect ditched his sedan after the crash and is believed to be on foot and armed with a knife, Storen said.

An active manhunt is ongoing, with drones in the sky and checkpoints at the entryway to Sullivan’s Island, Storen said.

There was no altercation ahead of the incident, according to Storen.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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National

Judge in Texas rules Trump’s use of Alien Enemies Act for deportations ‘exceeds the scope’ of the law

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(NEW YORK) — A Trump-appointed federal judge has permanently blocked the Trump administration from detaining, transferring or removing Venezuelans targeted for deportation under the Alien Enemies Act in the Southern District of Texas — ruling that the administration’s invocation of the AEA “exceeds the scope” of the law.

The ruling marks the first time a federal judge has declared President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act unlawful, with the judge rebuking the president’s claim that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua is invading the United States.

The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Fernandez Rodriguez, only applies to AEA-based deportations and does not prevent the government from detaining or seeking the deportation of individuals under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

In a 36-page opinion, Judge Rodriguez concluded that Trump’s March 15 invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is “unlawful” and “exceeds the scope” of the centuries-old wartime law that allows the president to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process during an invasion or predatory incursion.

“The President cannot summarily declare that a foreign nation or government has threatened or perpetrated an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States, followed by the identification of the alien enemies subject to detention or removal,” Judge Rodriguez wrote.

While the judge declined to weigh in on whether Tren de Aragua represents a foreign nation or government, he concluded that the Trump administration fell short of proving the violent gang was engaging in an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” as required by the Alien Enemies Act.

Trump’s proclamation had alleged that Tren de Aragua was a “hybrid criminal state” invading the United States. Though Trump’s proclamation claimed that Tren de Aragua members “harmed lives” in the U.S., it did not provide any evidence to suggest the gang did so in an “organized armed attack,” according to Judge Rodriguez.

“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation. Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA,” he wrote.

Lee Gelernt, the lawyer who argued the case for the American Civil Liberties Union, lauded the ruling.

“Critically, the court properly ruled that the president lacks authority simply to declare that there’s been an invasion of the U.S. and then invoke an 18th century wartime authority during peacetime,” Gelernt told ABC News. “Congress never meant for this law to be used in this manner.”

Judge Rodriguez, in his ruling, also pushed back against the Trump administration’s claim that the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act should not be reviewed by courts — a claim the DOJ lawyers have asserted in courthouses across the country as they fight a series of challenges to Trump’s use AEA.

“Allowing the President to unilaterally define the conditions when he may invoke the AEA, and then summarily declare that those conditions exist, would remove all limitations to the Executive Branch’s authority under the AEA, and would strip the courts of their traditional role of interpreting Congressional statutes to determine whether a government official has exceeded the statute’s scope. The law does not support such a position,” he wrote.

While other judges have temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, most have done so on an emergency basis without weighing in on the “merits” or lawfulness of the proclamation. Judge Rodriguez’s lengthy order marks the first time a federal judge has plainly declared the proclamation unlawful and blocked him from using it to deport noncitizens.

The Trump administration touched off a legal battle in March when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.

An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that “many” of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States — but said that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a subsequent 5-4 decision, lifted an injunction issued by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that had halted deportations under the AEA — but said detainees must be given due process to challenge their removal in the district where they were detained.

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National

Army soldier in Colorado arrested for allegedly distributing cocaine: FBI

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(DENVER) — A U.S. Army soldier stationed in Colorado was arrested on federal drug charges, authorities said Thursday.

Staff Sgt. Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, a soldier at Fort Carson, was arrested Wednesday evening, the FBI in Denver said.

He faces federal charges related to the distribution of cocaine, the FBI said.

The soldier was taken into custody with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division and Fort Carson officials, the FBI said.

“We will continue to cooperate with all agencies involved,” a Fort Carson official said in a statement on Thursday.

The DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division said it is conducting a joint investigation with the FBI and Army Criminal Investigation Division.

No additional information on the case has been released.

Fort Carson is located south of Colorado Springs.

It is unclear if the arrest is related to a federal raid of an underground nightclub in Colorado Springs over the weekend.

The DEA said it detained more than 200 people — including members of the military — at an unlicensed nightclub in Colorado Springs early Sunday.

Among them, 114 illegal migrants were taken into custody, with most from Central and South America, officials said.

A Fort Carson spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that 17 service members, including 16 assigned to Fort Carson, were identified at the scene during the nightclub raid and were allowed to leave on their own.

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

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National

Fox News, Smartmatic file dueling motions for summary judgment in defamation case

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(NEW YORK) — Years after the 2020 election and in the wake of a landmark $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, Fox News is continuing to fight back against a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit brought by voting machine company Smartmatic.

Fox wrote a clear message in a new court filing on Wednesday: “Smartmatic is not Dominion.”

“Unlike Dominion, Smartmatic was mired in a decade of business failure due to inadequate technology, missing certifications, and involvement in multiple highly controversial elections,” the filing states. “Unlike Dominion, Smartmatic was founded by Venezuelans and was embroiled in claims of fraud in Venezuelan and Filipino elections well before any controversy arose over the 2020 Presidential Election.”

The filing from attorneys representing Fox Corp, Fox News, and some talent on Wednesday came in support of the motion for summary judgment, in which their attorneys urged the court that Smartmatic’s suit is nothing more than a “meritless cash grab” from what they say is “failing company.”

In its 12-page filing, Fox laid out a litany of what it said were Smartmatic’s “ongoing reputational problems” in an effort to give credit to some of the claims made on its air about the company in the wake of the 2020 election. They say that “none of it was defamatory.”

“In the wake of the hotly contested 2020 Presidential Election, Fox News hosts fairly and accurately reported on remarkable and newsworthy allegations that the President and his lawyers were making about election integrity during the short interval between Election Day and the date the results were certified, while court challenges were playing out around the country,” the filing from the network said.

In its own filing on Wednesday, Smartmatic claimed that Fox News “deliberately deceived its audience” when it reported claims of fraud surrounding Smartmatic after the 2020 election — and claimed that the top officials at the company, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, “knew President Trump lost the 2020 election” and “mocked” him in private.

“That is what they knew, said, and did behind closed doors,” a filing in support of Smartmatic’s motion for summary judgment claimed. “In public, Fox News told its audience the opposite.”

In a statement, Smartmatic’s attorney Erik Connolly said, “Fox is running the same playbook as other abusers, trying to sully the victim.”

“Fox cannot justify its month-long smear campaign against Smartmatic. Everyone from the Murdochs to the show producers knew they were pushing baseless claims,” Connolly said. “So, Fox is piling new lies on top of its old ones to try to persuade shareholders that its financial exposure is less than the $780 million paid to Dominion. It is not. It is much more. Fox will be held accountable. Fox’s motion is a distraction, not a defense.”

The filing from Smartmatic says Fox “from top to bottom” knew “with absolute certainty” that Smartmatic did not rig the 2020 election, but that they “systematically promoted the inflammatory and false narrative” anyway.

“The Murdochs and their executives believed this was a story that President Trump’s supporters wanted to hear, so that is what Fox News told them even though no one believed it to be true,” the filing states.

Smartmatic labeled Fox News as having done a “pivot”– in which they remained in “neutral ground” on the 2020 election until they decided to “lean into election fraud claims” after it faced backlash for calling Arizona for Joe Biden.

“Fox News’ ‘pivot’ was designed to boost ratings, which it did. Good for Fox. It devastated Smartmatic,” the voting machine company’s filing says.

Smartmatic’s filing includes some threats it says it received in the wake of the election. The company claims that its “prospects and reputation have been destroyed.” Smartmatic claims they are now “fighting to survive,” suffering billions in value that “have forever been lost” and that over 100 employees have lost their jobs.

The motions for summary judgement from both sides remained redacted until further notice.

Smartmatic sued Fox and other defendants in 2021, claiming they “knowingly and intentionally” lied about them in the wake of the 2020 election regarding claims of fraud, causing them to lose business.

Instead, Fox claims that Smartmatic “saw a litigation lottery ticket in Fox News’s coverage of the 2020 election.”

“Smartmatic seized on those allegations as a financial lifeline,” Fox News’ filing states. “It manufactured a defamation lawsuit claiming to be a highly reputable company worth more than $2.7 billion and poised to win dozens of contracts in the U.S. and around the world.”

Fox further claimed that they were covering “the biggest story at the time” by covering Trump and his attorney’s claims about Smartmatic, and that there is “no evidence” to support Smartmatic’s claims of lost contracts.

Fox also says that did not air defamatory statements about Smartmatic with actual malice — but rather they were merely trying to “accurately convey what the President was claiming (and still claims.)”

“That is not defamatory,” Fox News says.

In seeking summary judgement, Smartmatic added Wednesday that there is only one “crucial question” that the jury should answer: “How much should Rupert and Lachlan’s media empire pay for promoting an intentional falsehood that destroyed a voting technology company and eroded public trump in American democracy itself?”

Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit from Dominion in April 2023 on the eve of trial over similar allegations that Fox pushed false claims of fraud about the voting system company.

In the settlement, Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million and acknowledged “the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

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National

Hundreds of flights canceled amid severe weather, flash flooding threats

ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Severe weather and flash flooding continue to threaten much of the central and eastern U.S. on Thursday, disrupting Americans’ travel plans.

More than 900 flights were halted across the U.S. on Wednesday, with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport hit the hardest with more than 700 of those cancellations. So far on Thursday, nearly 400 flights are canceled.

On Thursday, the worst of the severe weather will focus on two areas: one is Oklahoma City to Dallas to Alexandria, Louisiana, and the second is Nashville, Tennessee, to Louisville, Kentucky, to Charleston, West Virginia, to Cleveland to Pittsburgh.

The primary threats for both areas will be damaging wind gusts and large hail. Tornadoes are possible from Nashville to Pittsburgh.

The storms will begin around noon and end by Thursday night.

Flash flooding will also be a concern Thursday from Texas to New York, with the worst flooding forecast for Oklahoma and the Pittsburgh area.

On Friday, the severe weather and flash flood threats will be confined to the south-central Plains.

The severe weather will focus on Texas, where large hail and damaging wind gusts are expected.

For flash flooding, the highest threat area will stretch from Texas to Mississippi, including the cities of San Antonio; Dallas; Ada, Oklahoma; Little Rock, Arkansas; Jackson, Mississippi; and Shreveport, Louisiana.

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National

Jeff Sperbeck, NFL star John Elway’s longtime agent, dies following golf cart incident

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(LA QUINTA, Calif.) — Former NFL star John Elway’s longtime business partner and former agent died Wednesday after reportedly falling from a golf cart.

Jeff Sperbeck, 62, died Wednesday after an accident Saturday evening in La Quinta, California, the Riverside County Coroner confirmed to ABC News.

It was not confirmed yet who was driving the golf cart.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL Fire) responded to a 911 call about a person falling from a golf cart on the 53200 block of Humboldt Blvd in La Quinta. Emergency personnel transported the injured person to a nearby trauma center with serious injuries, officials said.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident, though sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News the investigation is in its preliminary stages. Because the incident occurred in a private community and involved a golf cart rather than a regular vehicle, standard traffic laws may not apply.

Elway, a Hall of Fame quarterback, spent his entire 16-year NFL career with the Denver Broncos, leading the team to two Super Bowl victories.

The NFL star later served as the Broncos’ general manager and executive vice president before transitioning to a consultant role, which ended in March 2023.

Sperbeck had represented over 100 football players in his 30-year career as an NFL agent.

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National

‘Hazing on steroids’: Syracuse high school students surrender to police over incident

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(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) — A group of students from a high school in Syracuse, New York, surrendered to authorities on Wednesday for an alleged hazing incident described by the local district attorney as “incomprehensible.”

All 11 implicated students surrendered themselves to police over the incident after being given a 48-hour deadline, the district attorney’s office confirmed to Syracuse ABC affiliate WSYR.

“I cannot really adequately express to this community the level of stupidity and lack of judgement involved in this case,” Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick said he decided to prosecute charges against 11 students at Westhill High School who allegedly hazed a younger student on April 24.

In the evening hours of April 24, the students — most are members of the boys varsity lacrosse team — allegedly decided they would “haze or play some sort of prank on some of the younger members of the lacrosse team,” Fitzpatrick said.

One victim told officials he thought he was going to have an “enjoyable evening with the upperclassman, go to a lacrosse game and finish the evening with something to eat at McDonald’s,” Fitzpatrick said.

But, on their way home from eating food, the driver of the car claimed he was lost, stopped in a remote part of the county, which is when “accomplices jumped out of the woods pretending to be kidnappers,” Fitzpatrick said.

These accomplices, who were other students, were dressed in black and armed with “at least one handgun and at least one knife,” Fitzpatrick said.

The victim had a pillowcase placed over his head, was tied up and placed in the trunk of the car, according to the DA.

“I’ve seen the video tape of what happened to this young man, it is not a rite of passage, it is not a trivial matter,” Fitzpatrick said. “I find it incomprehensible that in this day and age that somebody thought they could have gotten away with something like this.”

Investigators say there were four other potential victims, but they were able to flee the area.

Fitzpatrick, who described the incident as “hazing on steroids,” had given the 11 suspects 48 hours to turn themselves into the sheriff’s department.

The DA said Tuesday that if the suspects decided to surrender to police before Friday, their cases would either be handled through the family court system or would not fall under their criminal records.

He added that if the students refused to cooperate, they would be arrested, prosecuted as adults and charged with kidnapping in the second degree.

Fitzpatrick said the incident “goes way beyond hazing,” likening it more to “criminal activity.”

“If you want to welcome someone onto your team and toughen them up, maybe an extra hour of practice might be appropriate as opposed to taking someone at gunpoint, stuffing them in the back of a car and traumatizing them for the rest of their life,” Fitzpatrick said.

Westhill Schools Superintendent Steven Dunham sent an email to families regarding the incident, saying the school made the “difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the Westhill High School varsity boys lacrosse season,” even though the majority of those on the team were not involved in the alleged hazing.

“Some may argue that all student-athletes shouldn’t be punished for the actions of a few. While I understand the perspective, we must address the culture of the program, and the most appropriate way to do that is with a reset,” Dunham said.

Dunham said the school will address the behavior that “negatively impacts members of our school community promptly and appropriately according to our Code of Conduct.”

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National

Rubio has been in touch with El Salvador’s Bukele about Abrego Garcia: Sources

Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been in touch with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongfully deported last month to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, multiple sources familiar with their contact told ABC News.

The details of their contact were not immediately clear.

ABC News’ Karen Travers asked Secretary of State Rubio about Abrego Garcia at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting in Washington, and he would not say whether there had been any form of contact.

“I’ll never tell you that,” Rubio said. “And you know who else? I’ll never tell a judge, because the conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the president of the United States and the executive branch, not some judge.”

A spokesperson for the State Department said, “We do not comment on reports of private diplomatic negotiations, regardless if they are real or not.”

The New York Times first reported the contact between the U.S. and El Salvador relating to Abrego Garcia.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13.

The federal judge overseeing the case on Wednesday denied a motion from the Trump administration to further delay discovery in the case.

The order came a week after the judge, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, paused expedited discovery for seven days after the Trump administration asked her for the stay.

An attorney for Abrego Garcia, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told ABC News they agreed to the seven-day pause “in good faith.”

“Today is the seventh day of the original seven-day period,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said Wednesday. “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not back in the United States, and it seems to me that the government has not been using that week wisely.”

The attorney said his team is going to figure out “which humans from the U.S. government” are blocking the return of Abrego Garcia.

Judge Xinis earlier this month slammed the administration over its inaction over Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation and ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery.

Following her order Wednesday, Judge Xinis set new deadlines for the government to respond to requests.

By May 5, the government must answer and respond to all outstanding discovery requests and supplement their invocations of privilege consistent with the court’s previous orders, Xinis ruled.

The depositions of four government witnesses who plaintiffs say have knowledge of the circumstances in the case must be completed by May 9, she ordered.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers may seek the court’s permission to conduct up to two additional depositions, Judge Xinis said.

The plaintiffs have a deadline of May 12 to renew their motions for relief, which previously asked the court to order the government to comply with the order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., and to order the government to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with the court’s prior orders.

The government will have until May 14 to respond to that motion, Xinis said.

The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. His wife and attorney have denied that he is an MS-13 member.

In 2019, an immigration judge determined that Abrego Garcia was removable from the U.S. based on allegations of his gang affiliation made by local police in Maryland. But Abrego Garcia was subsequently granted withholding of removal to his home country.

Judge Xinis early this month ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

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National

Judge denies DOJ’s request to further delay discovery in Abrego Garcia case

Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The federal judge overseeing the wrongful deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Wednesday denied a motion from the Trump administration to further delay discovery in the case.

The order came a week after the judge paused expedited discovery for seven days after the Trump administration asked her for the stay.

The judge, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, earlier this month slammed the administration over its inaction over Abrego Garcia’s wrongful detention and ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13.

Following her order Wednesday, Judge Xinis set new deadlines for the government to respond to requests.

By May 5, the government must answer and respond to all outstanding discovery requests and supplement their invocations of privilege consistent with the court’s previous orders, Xinis ruled.

The depositions of four government witnesses who plaintiffs say have knowledge of the circumstances in the case must be completed by May 9, she ordered.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers may seek the court’s permission to conduct up to two additional depositions, Judge Ximis said.

The plaintiffs have a deadline of May 12 to renew their motions for relief, which previously asked the court to order the government to comply with the order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., and to order the government to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with the court’s prior orders.

The government will have until May 14 to respond to that motion, Xinis said.

The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. His wife and attorney have denied that he is an MS-13 member.

In 2019, an immigration judge determined that Abrego Garcia was removable from the U.S. based on allegations of his gang affiliation made by local police in Maryland. But Abrego Garcia was subsequently granted withholding of removal to his home country.

Judge Xinis early this month ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

Tuesday, in an exclusive interview with ABC News to mark his 100th day in office, President Trump said he “could” secure the return of Abrego Garcia, and “if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that” — before adding, “I’m not the one making this decision.”

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