The US Supreme Court said that President Donald Trump’s administration should take steps to bring back a Maryland man that immigration authorities admitted to being mistakenly deported to a notorious arrest in his home country, El Salvador. Without public dissent, the judges on Thursday widely rejected the Trump administration’s allegations that the order of the court of first instance required actions that were beyond the government’s authority in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. “Order correctly demands that the government ‘facilitates’ the release of Abrego Garcia from custody in El Salvador and ensures that his case be treated as it would have been if he had not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the court said in an order of three paragraphs.
The decision establishes a limit to Trump’s deportation power, while he seeks a comprehensive authority with minimal judicial revision. This follows the decision of the Supreme Court on Monday to allow the administration to use a war law to try to deport alleged members of Venezuelan gangs, provided they have a chance to present their case against deportation to a judge. The judge of the US District Court, Paula Xinis, in Maryland, had ordered the government to “facilitate and make” the return of Abrego Garcia, setting a deadline of April 7, which has passed. The court said the part of the judge’s order was ambiguous and could exceed his authority. The Court asked Xinis to clarify his order “with due respect for the deference due to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”
Read more:
Judge Sonia Sotomayor said in a separate opinion to the three Liberal Judges of the Court that Xinis “must continue to ensure that the government fulfills its obligations to follow the law.” On Thursday night, Xinis issued a more detailed order, directing the administration to “take all the available measures to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States as soon as possible.” She ordered the government to inform her in writing on Friday morning about which steps she is taking and marked an audience for Friday afternoon. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Justice, which states that Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador due to an “administrative error”, argued that he has no more legal authority about him. “The United States does not control El Salvador’s sovereign nation, nor can they force El Salvador to follow the orders of a federal judge,” US Attorney General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court. Abreago Garcia’s lawyers said the administration has the power to bring him back, maintaining that El Salvador is effectively a contractor serving as a US government jailer. The US is paying El Salvador $ 6 million to keep people in Cecot prison.
Read more:
Continues after advertising
“There is no dispute that Abago Garcia is in El Salvador just because the United States sent him there,” argued detainee lawyers. “Likewise, there is no dispute that he is being maintained only because the United States requested that it be maintained.” Vague Garcia lived legally in Maryland with his wife and three children, all American citizens. According to an Order of the 2019 Immigration Court, he cannot be deported to El Salvador, where he says he would face gang -based extortion and persecution. Immigration authorities arrested Vugo Garcia on March 12 and accused him of playing a “prominent role in the MS-13”, although he was not convicted of any crime or accused of one. He was sent to El Salvador on March 15 along with more than 200 other alleged gang members.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
