US Supreme Court orders the return of wrongfully deported migrant

Friday 11 April 2025 - 11:06

By: Zahouani Ilham

US Supreme Court orders the return of wrongfully deported migrant

The United States Supreme Court has mandated the government to facilitate the return of a Salvadoran man who was deported in error, marking a minor victory for opponents of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, was living in Maryland when he became one of over 200 individuals sent to an El Salvador prison as part of Trump’s anti-immigration measures. Many of those deported were suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration labeled as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

The Justice Department later acknowledged that Garcia’s deportation was a result of an “administrative error,” as he was married to a U.S. citizen.

In a decision released Thursday, the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, ordered the government to facilitate Garcia’s release from an El Salvador prison and ensure that his case is handled as though he had not been wrongfully deported. His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, celebrated the ruling, stating that "the rule of law prevailed."

Garcia had been residing in the U.S. under protected status since 2019, after a judge ruled that deportation would put him at risk of harm in El Salvador.

Following his deportation and detention in the notorious CECOT counterterrorism prison, lower courts had instructed the U.S. government to return him by Monday. The Supreme Court temporarily paused this order after the administration requested an emergency ruling.

The U.S. government claimed that Garcia was affiliated with the MS-13 gang, a claim that lacked sufficient evidence, according to the lower courts. The government also argued that it no longer had jurisdiction over Garcia since he was in El Salvador, calling the lower court’s ruling "unprecedented and indefensible."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem expressed confidence in the validity of the detentions at CECOT, a facility holding alleged gang members in extreme conditions under a $6 million agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

The Supreme Court ruled that the deadline set by the lower courts was no longer in effect but upheld the requirement for Garcia’s return, although it instructed the lower court to consider the deference due to the Executive Branch in foreign affairs. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, asserting that Garcia's removal had no legal basis.

Human Rights Watch condemned the treatment of the deportees and urged the U.S. government to provide transparency on those transferred to CECOT and allow them to contact the outside world.

In a separate case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could continue deportations of Venezuelan migrants under an 18th-century wartime law.