Supreme Court rules Trump administration must ‘facilitate’ return of mistakenly deported man
SCOTUS has ordered Trump to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador wher he is locked up in notorious prison
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to lift a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
The court’s emergency ruling instructs the lower judge to clarify the language of her order but said she acted properly in ensuring that Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case is handled “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
“The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps,” the order reads.
There were no noted dissents.
“In the proceedings on remand, the District Court should continue to ensure that the Government lives up to its obligations to follow the law,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a separate statement, joined by the court’s two other liberal justices.
The administration acknowledges Abrego Garcia was wrongly removed but argued the courts cannot mandate his return since he is now in the hands of Salvadoran authorities, who are detaining him in the country’s notorious CECOT prison.
Abrego Garcia has lived in Maryland since 2011, when he was 16 years old. In 2019, an immigration judge issued an order preventing authorities from deporting him back to El Salvador over concerns he would face violence there.
Despite the order, Abrego Garcia was aboard one of a series of March 15 flights that left U.S. soil and ultimately landed in El Salvador. The Trump administration has since blamed it on an “administrative error” but argues it is powerless to bring him back.
“Courts cannot order the Executive to conduct the country’s foreign relations in a particular way,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court filings.
After Abrego Garcia’s family sued, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Obama who serves in Maryland, ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return.
The Supreme Court’s ruling upholds the thrust of Xinis’s order but directs her to clarify the term “effectuate,” warning that it is otherwise unclear and could be interpreted in a way that exceeds her authority.
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