The US Supreme Court has instructed the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia 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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
