Supreme Court Orders Trump Officials to Return Man Wrongfully Deported to Salvadoran Prison
"This is a massive win for justice and the rule of law," said one Democratic congresswoman. "Now Trump must comply."
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling with no noted dissents affirming a federal judge's order compelling President Donald Trump's administration to enable the stateside return of Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in his native country.
"The rule of law won today," said Andrew Rossman, one of Abrego García's lawyers. "Time to bring him home."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in Thursday's unsigned order that the Trump administration must "facilitate and effectuate" Abrego García's release from custody "and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
"The intended scope of the term 'effectuate' in the district court's order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the district court's authority," Sotomayor added. "The district court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs."
Last week, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis gave the Trump administration until Monday April 7 to return Abrego García, who was deported last month to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) super-maximum security prison in central El Salvador after the government claimed without credible evidence that he was a gang member.
"Defendants seized Abrego García without any lawful authority; held him in three separate domestic detention centers without legal basis; failed to present him to any immigration judge or officer; and forcibly transported him to El Salvador in direct contravention" of immigration law, she wrote.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay Xinis' order, with one judge on the tribunal writing, "The United States government has no legal authority to snatch a person who is lawfully present in the United States off the street and remove him from the country without due process."
The panel refuted the Trump administration's assertion that it could not return Abrego García, calling the government's argument "that the federal courts are powerless to intervene... unconscionable."
However, on Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked Xinis' order just before the midnight deadline pending review by all nine justices.
Abrego García's legal team argued that their client was the victim of a "Kafkaesque mistake." Among the so-called evidence the government used to claim he is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang was a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie he wore, and a snitch's tip. The Trump administration subsequently admitted in a March 31 court filing that Abrego García's deportation was an "administrative error" and an "oversight."
Before he was deported, Abrego García, 29, lived in Maryland with his wife, Jennifer Stefania Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen; their autistic, nonverbal 5-year-old child; and two children from Vasquez Sura's previous relationship. His lawyers said he left El Salvador to escape the then-endemic gang violence there.
Advocates for Abrego García welcomed the high court's order, with Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) writing on the social media site Bluesky that the justices "did the right thing."
"This is about the rule of law and due process," he added. "Kilmar Abrego García should be reunited with his family."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said: "This is a massive win for justice and the rule of law. Now Trump must comply."
