Abrego Garcia's attorneys filed an emergency motion last week seeking to have him returned to Maryland should he released on bond, but government attorneys say they will seek to deport him to a country other than his native El Salvador, where he is prohibited from being sent due to a 2019 court order.

During a three-hour hearing, a frustrated U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis appeared incredulous over the administration’s lack of a definite plan for deporting Abrego after a Justice Department attorney said that was the plan.