Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA's Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)2025-04-12T21:53:12Z The Trump administration confirmed to a federal judge Saturday that a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported last month remains confined in a notorious prison in El Salvador. But the governments filing did not address the judges demands that the administration detail what steps it was taking to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. The government only said Garcia is under the authority of the El Salvador government. The administrations confirmation of Garcias location was confirmed to the court by Michael G. Kozak, who identified himself in the filing as a Senior Bureau Official in the State Departments Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. The filing comes one day after a U.S. government attorney struggled in a hearing to provide U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis with any information about Garcias whereabouts. Xinis issued an order after Fridays hearing requiring the administration to disclose Garcias current physical location and custodial status and what steps, if any, Defendants have taken (and) will take, and when, to facilitate his return. It is my understanding based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, Kozaks statement said. He is alive and secure in that facility. He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador. Kozaks statement did not address the judges latter requirements. Xinis was exasperated Friday with the governments lack of information. Where is he and under whose authority? the judge asked in the hearing. Im not asking for state secrets. All I know is that hes not here. The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador, and now Im asking a very simple question: Where is he? BILL BARROW Bill Barrow covers U.S. politics. He is based in Atlanta. twitter mailto