Supreme Court: Trump admin must "facilitate" return of deported Maryland man
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A prison officer guarding gang members in a cell at the Terrorism Confinement Center in San Vicente, El Salvador, on April 4. Photo: Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Trump administration must take steps to return a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported from the U.S., the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.
The big picture: The Trump administration fought a lower court order to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national who the government erroneously deported, arguing the judge's order imposed on the president's foreign policy powers.
Driving the news: The high court in an unsigned order with no dissenting votes said the lower court judge "properly requires the Government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
- The Supreme Court temporarily paused on Monday a federal judge's midnight deadline to return Abrego Garcia while the justices weighed the case.
- The Trump administration had asked the high court to get rid of the Monday deadline set by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
- The Supreme Court in its order noted this deadline had passed. "To that extent, the Government's emergency application is effectively
granted in part and the deadline in the challenged order is
no longer effective," the order said. - The judge has to "clarify its directive, with due regard to the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs," per the order.
What they're saying: Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in an opinion — joined by fellow liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — that "the proper remedy is to provide Abrego Garcia with all the process to which he would have been entitled had he not been unlawfully removed to El Salvador."
- Representatives for the Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment in the evening.
Catch up quick: The government accused Abrego Garcia, who was legally living in Maryland, of being a member of MS-13, even though he has not been convicted of gang-related crimes.
- Abrego Garcia's lawyers argued in their response Monday evening that there is no credible reason for the U.S. to withhold his return, as it was the government's error that led to his deportation.
Context: Abrego Garcia was detained by immigration officials and mistakenly deported, despite a court order that he remain in the U.S. due to a likelihood of harm in El Salvador.
- He was wrongly told last month by immigration agents that his status had changed.
- Justice Department attorneys conceded that he was removed to El Salvador because of an "administrative error."
Flashback: Supreme Court pauses order requiring deported Maryland man be returned to U.S.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
