Supreme Court rules Trump administration must return Maryland man mistakenly deported
SCOTUS rules Maryland man mistakenly deported must be returned
The Supreme Court has ruled that a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador must be returned to the U.S.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration must facilitate the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
What they're saying:
In the majority opinion, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court ruled that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was illegally deported from the U.S. and must be returned.
Abrego Garcia had legal protection under an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling that shielded him from deportation to El Salvador, where he faced likely persecution by local gangs.
"The United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal," the court ruling reads.
The Trump administration alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13. Abrego Garcia, a young father, has denied the claims, saying that he has been in the country legally for the past 10 years and has no criminal record.
In the opinion, Sotomayor said the government has not provided an adequate legal argument to support Abrego Garcia’s "warrantless arrest, his removal to El Salvador, or his confinement in a Salvadoran prison."
The opinion states that Abrego Garcia must be given due process and a chance to challenge the accusations against him. The court also says the Trump administration must ensure that Abrego Garcia's court case is handled as it would have been had he not been "unlawfully removed" to El Salvador.
Big picture view:
This ruling comes as a setback for the Trump administration, which has been cracking down on immigration and conducting widespread raids across the country. It was also a rare show of solidarity within the conservative court, with no justices in dissent.
The High Court ruling has a broader implication, as Sotomayor states that the Trump administration's argument "implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene."
It's a big win for immigration advocates who have argued that the administration's sweeping arrests and deportations, which are allegedly meant to target migrants with violent criminal records, threaten others who have not committed any crimes or have circumstances that allow them to be in the U.S.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: MD man wrongfully deported to El Salvador will remain at detention center
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador will spend another night in a Salvadoran detention center despite a federal judge’s order that he be returned to the United States.
The backstory:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration from Maryland to El Salvador.
The 29-year-old Salvadoran national was arrested in Maryland on March 12 and was deported three days later, despite the court ruling preventing his deportation.
His mistaken deportation, described by the White House as an "administrative error," outraged many and raised concerns about expelling non-citizens who were granted permission to be in the U.S. The administration's argument that there was no longer anything they could do about it once he was sent out of the country further angered advocates.
On April 4, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the Trump administration had to return Abrego Garcia, whose wife is a U.S. citizen. Xinis ordered that the government "facilitate and effectuate the return of [Abrego Garcia] to the United States by no later than 11:59 PM on Monday, April 7."
Xinis, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said there was no legal basis for Abrego Garcia’s detention and no legal justification for his removal to El Salvador.
That order was temporarily suspended by Chief Justice John Roberts after the Trump administration filed a brief to vacate the ruling. Government attorneys argued that Xinis didn’t have the authority to order the Trump administration to broker the return.
Now, the court's final ruling means Abrego Garcia will finally be returned home after nearly a month at the Center for Terrorism Confinement in El Salvador.
What's next:
The majority opinion did state that Judge Xinis has to clarify what she means by "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. to ensure that it does not intrude on powers of the executive branch.
Xinis has ordered that Abrego Garcia be returned to the United States by midnight Monday.