A clearly frustrated federal judge warned President Donald Trump’s administration it could face contempt sooner rather than later, giving its lawyers just hours to detail every step toward returning an unlawfully deported man.
U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker in Arizona issued the stern ruling Tuesday in just hours before the government’s next status report was due at 5 p.m. that day under an Oct. 21 order requiring one every weekday. The government had sought to start filing reports every other day explaining why it had not returned the man. That request was denied.
Hinderaker ruled Oct. 6 that the government violated the constitutional rights of Ahmed Mahmoud Soliman, an Egyptian man, by deporting him to Equatorial Guinea in April without notice or a chance to object. An immigration judge had barred sending him to Egypt, where he likely faced torture, the ruling said.
Hinderaker ordered officials to take “all reasonable steps within their control” to bring him back.
The government reported Monday that it had approved parole, temporary permission to enter the country, for Soliman. That permission expires Nov. 11, Tuesday’s order said.
“With a fixed expiration date approaching and eleven steps still outstanding, the need for daily reporting has increased, not diminished,” the judge wrote, rejecting the government’s request to file every other business day.
Hinderaker's threat to government officials was delivered in plain language.
“A party that fails to take all reasonable steps within its power to comply with a specific and definite order is subject to civil contempt,” Hinderaker wrote.
“The Court does not, at this time, require Defendants to show cause why they should not be held in contempt. The Court sets out these standards so that Defendants understand what the Court will expect if it becomes necessary to revisit the question,” he continued, referring to an order that would make officials explain why they should not be punished.
A party claiming it cannot comply “must show categorically and in detail why he is unable to comply,” Hinderaker wrote, quoting an appeals court ruling.
“[E]ach status report must be supported by a declaration made under penalty of perjury by an individual with personal knowledge of the matters stated,” the judge warned, suggesting possible legal risks for officials who perjure themselves.
Tuesday’s report must list, for each of the 11 remaining steps, every act taken toward it since Monday, who took it by name and title, and the date, the order said.
Hinderaker's order put the government on notice: officials will have to stand behind those sworn details if the judge is forced to revisit contempt.
Tuesday’s report must also give “the projected date of Plaintiff’s departure from Malabo and arrival at the designated port of entry,” the order said. Each report after that must update the timeline for every step, “specifically identifying any date that has changed since the prior report and explaining why it changed.”
Once the government officially lists a departure date in Tuesday's daily report, the risks multiply, as any slip in the next sworn update must be explained.
Immigration officials learned of the Oct. 6 ruling around Oct. 7 but did not request Soliman’s parole until Oct. 21, the day the judge ordered daily reports, Tuesday’s order said. They asked to speed it up on Oct. 23, the day Hinderaker ordered them to say whether that was possible, and the Court approved it within three days.
“The pattern reflected in the record is that each discrete step Defendants have taken has followed, rather than preceded, an order from this Court directing them to address that step,” Hinderaker wrote.
Two days after the parole request went in, a plane contracted by the Department of Homeland Security landed in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital, and left two hours later without Soliman, the order said. The government told the court he could not board because the request had not been approved and his travel letter had not been issued.
The plane left without him “for reasons that relate to the delays” in seeking parole, Hinderaker wrote.
“The port of entry requires nothing from any foreign government and is wholly within Defendants’ control, yet it still has not been designated,” Hinderaker wrote of choosing where Soliman would enter the U.S.
No U.S. official has reportedly contacted Soliman, and his physical condition has still not been reported, the judge wrote. His lawyers told the government he had been hospitalized, the order said.
Hinderaker wrote that after reviewing the coming reports and any response from Soliman’s lawyers, he will decide whether further proceedings, “including an order to show cause,” are warranted.
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