A federal court refused the Justice Department’s petitions to dismiss Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit over his erroneous deportation to El Salvador, finding one of the motions “meritless.”

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, did not immediately decide on Abrego Garcia’s request to be transferred to a federal prison in Maryland while awaiting his criminal trial in Tennessee on human trafficking accusations.

Xinis informed Justice Department attorney Bridget O’Hickey, “You made three arguments, defendants, and none are availing … meritless.”

Xinis, who had directed the government to assist Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States after he was deported to El Salvador in March, questioned O’Hickey on whether the US had indicted him to facilitate his return. When Xinis arrived in the United States in June and was promptly charged, the government did not contact his or Abrego Garcia’s counsel.