The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the government to take steps to return an El Salvadorian immigrant who was wrongly deported to the notorious prison in El Salvador.
The court stopped ordering orders to return to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, suggesting that the court may not have the authority to ask the executive to do so.
But the court endorsed part of the presiding judge, which required the government to “promote and implement Mr. Abreg Garcia’s return”.
“The order requires the government to 'promote' the release of detention centers from El Salvador and ensure that his case is handled, as this would have been if he was not sent to El Salvador,” the Supreme Court ruling said. “However, the expected scope of the term 'effective' in the District Court Order is unclear and may exceed the powers of the District Court.”
The case will now return to the trial court, and it is unclear whether and when Mr. Abrego Garcia will return to the United States.
“The District Court should clarify its directives and consider due regard for respect for the administration's foreign affairs,” the Supreme Court's ruling said. “For one thing, the Government should be prepared to share prospects about the steps it has taken and further measures.”
The ruling seems to be consistent. But Justice Sonia Sotomayor, along with Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, issued a statement that was very critical of the government's actions and said she would maintain every part of the trial judge's order.
Justice Sotomayor wrote: “Up to this day, the government has not mentioned the unsecured arrest of Abrego Garcia, who was removed from office to El Salvador or his detention at the El Salvador prison. Nor can it be.”
Judge Sotomayor urged the trial judge, Paula Xinis of the Federal District Court of Maryland, to “continue to ensure that the government meets its obligations to comply with the law.”
Andrew J. Rossman, one of Mr. Abrego Garcia's lawyers, expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court's lawsuit.
“The rule of law has won today,” he said. “It's time to bring him home.”
Judge Sinis has said the Trump administration has made a “serious mistake” and shocked his conscience by sending Mr. Abrego Garcia to send Abrego Garcia despite an immigration judge's ruling in 2019. The immigration judge granted him a special status called “dismissal seizure” and found that he could face violence or torture if sent to El Salvador.
The government believes that Abrego Garcia, 29, is a member of a violent transnational street gang in MS-13, and the official was recently designated as a terrorist group.
Judge Sinis, appointed by President Barack Obama, said the claims were based on “single unestablished charges.”
She wrote: “The 'evidence' against Abrego Garcia is nothing more than his Chicago bull hat and hoodie, while the vague, vague allegations claiming to belong to the MS-13 “Western” group in New York – he has never lived in the MS-13 “Western” group.”
In an emergency application by the government, aimed at blocking the orders of Judge Sinis, U.S. Deputy Attorney General D. John Sauer said she had surpassed her powers through “regional diplomacy” because it required cooperation with the El Salvador government to ensure the release of Mr. Abregor Garcia.
“If this precedent has a foothold, other local courts can order the United States to successfully negotiate the return of other deleted foreigners anywhere in the world,” he wrote. “Under this logic, the District Court will effectively have extraterritorial jurisdiction over the diplomatic relations between the United States and the world.”
In response to the court, Abrego Garcia's lawyers said their client “sitted in foreign prisons only as required by the United States, which is the product of Kafka-style mistakes.”
They added: “The District Court order directs the government to promote Abregor Garcia's return to be conventional. In any case, this does not mean foreign policy or even domestic immigration policy.”
Mr Sal said it was not important that the immigration judge had previously banned Mr Abreg Garcia from expelling from El Salvador.
Mr. Thor wrote: “While the U.S. acknowledged that the evacuation of El Salvador was an administrative error, the error has not yet permitted the District Court to seize control of diplomacy, but instead regarded the administration as subordinate diplomats and asked the U.S. to enter the U.S. tonight.”
Abrego Garcia's lawyer said there was no evidence that he was at risk.
“Abrego Garcia has lived freely in the United States for many years but has never been charged with crimes,” they wrote. “The government believes that the dangerous threat he suddenly becomes to the Republic is unreliable.”
Mr. Thor said Judge Sinis's order was an order in a series of court decisions beyond its constitutional mandate.
“This is the latest in a series of injunctions or interim restraining orders that require ridiculous deadlines, district courts that require immediate or close compliance,” he wrote.
“Abrego Garcia, who has left her husband and father without a criminal record, has no reason to be recognized by law in the prison of El Salvadorians,” Judge Sotomayor wrote in a statement Thursday.
She added that the government’s position “means it can expel and incarcerate anyone, including U.S. citizens, without the need for law, as long as it does so before the court can step in.”
“This view,” Justice wrote. “Refute.”
