The US Supreme Court has instructed the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a mega-jail in El Salvador.
The Trump administration has conceded that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”, but appealed against a district court’s order to “facilitate and effectuate” his return to the US.
On Thursday, in a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court declined to block the lower court’s order.
That order “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”, the justices ruled.
Mr Garcia, a Salvadorian migrant, is one of dozens of migrants the US last month placed on military planes and sent to El Salvador’s infamous Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism), a prison known for housing gang members, under an arrangement between the two countries.
In a statement on Thursday evening after the top court’s decision, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a lawyer for Mr Garcia, said “the rule of law prevailed”.
“The Supreme Court upheld the district judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home.”
In its emergency appeal to the Supreme Court last week, the Trump administration argued Judge Paula Xinis of the Maryland district court lacked the authority to issue the order to return Mr Garcia by 23:59 EST last Monday, and that US officials cannot compel El Salvador to return Mr Garcia.
US Solicitor General D John Sauer wrote in his emergency court filing: “The Constitution charges the president, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the nation against foreign terrorists, including by effectuating their removal.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked Judge Xinis’s order while it considered the matter, before issuing its decision on Thursday.
On Thursday, the top court also directed Judge Xinis to explain her initial order to the extent she required the Trump administration to “effectuate” Mr Garcia’s return, adding she may have exceeded her authority.
“The district court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” the Supreme Court said.
A justice department spokesperson told the BBC that the Supreme Court correctly recognised “it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs”.
“By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.”
The government has said Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”, although they also allege he is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyer denies.
The case will now return to the trial court. The justices did not give the administration a deadline for when Mr Garcia should be returned.
Mr Garcia, now 29, entered the US illegally as a teenager from El Salvador. In 2019 he was arrested with three other men in Maryland and detained by federal immigration authorities.
But an immigration judge granted him protection from deportation on the grounds that he might be at risk of persecution from local gangs in his home country.
Mr Garcia, who is married to a US citizen, was deported on 15 March despite a court ruling forbidding it.
His wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura has been calling for his release since his deportation.
“This continues to be an emotional roller coaster for my children, Kilmar’s mother, his brother and siblings,” Ms Sura told the New York Times on Thursday, adding that “I will continue fighting until my husband is home”.
