A federal judge gave the Trump administration another week to answer detailed questions about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose illegal deportation has raised concerns about due process.

Getting rid of judges adds to criticism of the Trump administration for not giving migrants or noncitizens enough due process before they're deported.

The hearing is the first about Abrego Garcia's case since El Salvador's president told reporters he is not going to "smuggle a terrorist into the United States."

The memo could result in immigration judges deciding someone is not eligible for asylum without a hearing, and based solely on a lengthy and complex asylum request form.

The letter obtained by NPR marks a rare bipartisan critique from Capitol Hill of the administration's immigration policy.

Adams was scheduled to go on trial in April until new leadership at the Justice Department under the Trump administration ordered prosecutors in New York in February to drop the case, sparking a public outcry and resignations of prosecutors.

This latest case, in which lawyers argue their client had no proven links to MS-13, adds to the growing judicial and public scrutiny about the deportations to El Salvador's notorious mega-prison.

The Justice Department accused Howell of repeatedly demonstrating "animus" toward President Trump, after she paused enforcement of an executive order.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel denied the Trump administration's push to restart deportations of alleged gang members under a rarely used wartime authority known as the Alien Enemies Act.

The fight over the rarely used wartime power has become central to Trump's immigration crackdown agenda and his efforts to stretch the powers of the executive branch.

Friday's hearing over the merits of the judge's temporary restraining order comes as the case has become a flashpoint between the judiciary and executive branches.

Judge James Boasberg had earlier asked the Trump administration to provide more details about weekend flights that deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador — despite his order to turn the planes around.

The rare speech at the Justice Department comes as the Trump administration has spent the last several weeks trying to reconfigure the agency, including demoting attorneys who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and firing officials who investigated the president himself.

Impeachment threats against judges — and sometimes physical threats to their safety — compromise the independence of the judiciary, experts warn.

While Trump's executive order takes aim at Perkins Coie, the judge said it "casts a chilling harm of blizzard proportion across the entire legal profession."