U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Tuesday said that she will order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her orders to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison.

The federal judge said Trump officials have defied a “clear” Supreme Court order after their refusal to return Abrego Garcia back to the state.

Xinis called for the testimony of four Trump administration officials who work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.

She wrote that Trump administration officials “have done nothing at all” toward returning Abrego Garcia.

But, she wrote, they “remain obligated, at a minimum, to take the steps available to them toward aiding, assisting, or making easier Abrego Garcia’s release.”

The hearing came a day after White House advisers repeated the claim that they lack the authority to bring back the Salvadoran national from his native country.

The president of El Salvador also said Monday that he would not return Abrego Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”

An attorney for Abrego Garcia said contempt proceedings could be the logical next step after the fact-finding phase. “This is still a win, and this is still progress,” Rina Ghandi said. “We’re not done yet, though.”

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said shortly before Tuesday’s hearing that he was working hard to achieve the American dream for his family.

“That dream was shattered on March 12th when he was abducted and disappeared by the United States government in front of our 5-year-old-child,” she said. “Today is 34 days after his disappearance … I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive.”

Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said he’ll travel to El Salvador on Wednesday.

“My hope is to visit Kilmar and check on his wellbeing and to hold constructive conversations with government officials around his release,” Van Hollen said.

Abrego Garcia, 29, lived in the U.S. for roughly 14 years, during which he worked construction, got married and was raising three children with disabilities, according to court records.

A U.S. immigration judge had shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador in 2019, ruling that he would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized his family. He also was given a federal permit to work in the United States, where he was a metal worker and union member, according to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers.

But the Trump administration expelled Abrego Garcia to El Salvador last month anyway. Administration officials later described the mistake as “an administrative error” but insisted that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang.

Abrego Garcia was never charged with a crime and has denied the allegations. His attorneys have pointed out that the criminal informant claimed he was a member of MS-13 in Long Island, New York, where he has never lived.