Chief Justice Delays Return Order for Deported Man

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Chief Justice Delays Return Order for Deported Man \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily halted a lower court’s order requiring the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The Justice Department argued it lacked authority to retrieve him. Abrego Garcia had legal protection from deportation due to credible fear of gang violence.

Quick Looks

Chief Justice John Roberts paused a midnight deadline to return a wrongfully deported man
DOJ says Judge Paula Xinis overstepped her authority in ordering the return
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, deported to El Salvador, faced credible gang threats
An immigration judge in 2019 barred his deportation, citing likely persecution
U.S. concedes the deportation was a mistake but says it cannot retrieve him
Xinis called the deportation “wholly lawless” and the MS-13 claims “uncorroborated”
DOJ Solicitor General says the order is part of a “deluge of unlawful injunctions”
Appeals court rejected a DOJ stay request, saying “the government screwed up”
DOJ seeks to resume deporting Venezuelan migrants using an 18th-century wartime law
Abrego Garcia is a legal worker and U.S. citizen’s husband, never convicted of a crime

Deep Look

Chief Justice Roberts Pauses Court Deadline in High-Profile Wrongful Deportation Case

In a significant legal development, Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday agreed to temporarily pause a court order requiring the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The pause came just hours before a midnight deadline set by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who had ruled that the deportation of Abrego Garcia—despite legal protections granted years earlier—was unlawful and demanded the government act to return him immediately.

A Case of Mistaken Deportation

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national, was detained and deported last month even though a 2019 ruling by an immigration judge had barred his removal to El Salvador due to threats from violent gangs. The judge determined that Abrego Garcia would likely face persecution or harm if sent back, granting him relief under U.S. asylum laws.

Despite this, immigration authorities deported him. At a federal court hearing last week, Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni admitted to the court that Abrego Garcia should not have been deported and could not explain under what authority the arrest occurred.

DOJ Pushes Back on Judicial Oversight

In an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice argued that Judge Xinis’s order to “facilitate and effectuate” the return of Abrego Garcia by midnight Monday was an overreach. The DOJ claimed it lacked any mechanism to compel a foreign sovereign nation like El Salvador to release someone from custody.

“The district court’s injunction—which requires Abrego Garcia’s release from the custody of a foreign sovereign and return to the United States by midnight on Monday—is patently unlawful,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the DOJ’s filing.

Sauer labeled the order one of a “deluge of unlawful injunctions” that courts have issued in an effort to slow President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda during his second term.

Appeals Court Rejects Government’s Argument

Earlier Monday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, rejected the DOJ’s request for a stay of Xinis’s ruling. In a sharp opinion, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote:

“There is no question that the government screwed up here.”

That ruling forced the DOJ to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Roberts intervened shortly thereafter.

A Troubling Detention in El Salvador

Abrego Garcia is currently being held in one of El Salvador’s most infamous prisons, facilities that have drawn condemnation from human rights observers for overcrowding and abuse.

Judge Xinis, in her order, described the deportation as “wholly lawless,” stating that the government had offered little to no evidence to support its claims that Abrego Garcia had ties to the MS-13 gang—a key justification officials cited for his removal.

His attorneys say he has no gang affiliation, has never been charged with or convicted of a crime, and had a valid work permit from the Department of Homeland Security. He worked as a sheet metal apprentice, was pursuing his journeyman license, and is married to a U.S. citizen.

White House Sticks to Its Narrative

The White House has acknowledged the deportation as an “administrative error,” but has continued to assert, without evidence, that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with MS-13. His lawyers say this characterization is unsubstantiated and damaging, adding that DHS has produced no credible evidence to support the claim.

In court, Judge Xinis criticized the government’s position, calling the gang allegation “vague” and “uncorroborated.”

Repercussions and DOJ Accountability

The fallout from the case continues to ripple through the Justice Department. After admitting the mistake in court, DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni was removed from the case and placed on administrative leave by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Any attorney who fails to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States will face consequences,” Bondi said in a statement Monday, defending the department’s internal discipline process.

A Broader Legal Battle Looms

This case comes as the Trump administration also seeks Supreme Court approval to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang affiliations to the same El Salvador prison under a rarely invoked 18th-century wartime law.

The administration argues that extraordinary measures are necessary for national security, while critics say such moves bypass due process and target vulnerable populations.

The legal confrontation over Abrego Garcia’s deportation may set a broader precedent for judicial oversight of immigration enforcement, especially in cases where the government admits fault but claims inability to remedy the mistake.

Final Thoughts

The Supreme Court’s temporary pause of the deadline in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case underscores the growing tensions between the judicial branch and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement and executive authority.

While the government admits Abrego Garcia should never have been deported, it now argues that bringing him back is impossible—raising fundamental questions about accountability, human rights, and the limits of U.S. government responsibility once a mistake has been made.

As the legal battle unfolds, Abrego Garcia remains imprisoned abroad, and America’s justice system faces a defining test of its capacity to correct its own errors.