The US Supreme Court has temporarily halted a lower court’s order requiring the return of a Salvadoran man who had been deported, granting an emergency request from the Trump administration.
Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to pause the ruling, which had set a deadline of midnight on Monday for Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be brought back to the United States.
Mr Garcia, 29, was deported to El Salvador on 15 March in what the US government describes as an “administrative error”. However, officials have also alleged that he is affiliated with the MS-13 gang – a claim his lawyer strongly denies.
In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the administration argued that the Maryland-based judge who issued the order lacked the authority to do so and stated that the US government could not compel the sovereign nation of El Salvador to act.
“The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge's bidding,” wrote US Solicitor General D John Sauer in court filings. He added: “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.”
Mr Garcia is currently held in El Salvador’s maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), along with hundreds of others deported over suspected gang or criminal involvement. His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura – a US citizen – has called for his release.
Though a judge granted Mr Garcia deportation protection in 2019, his removal still occurred. “The equivalent of a forcible expulsion,” said the family’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.
US District Judge Paula Xinis, who issued the return order, later ruled that Mr Garcia was held “without legal basis” and that the administration acted “without any lawful authority”.
The Supreme Court’s decision came just hours before the deadline, which the Trump administration had described as “impossible” to meet.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that the government lawyer involved, Erez Reuveni, had been placed on paid leave over his handling of the case.
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