Supreme Court rules against the Trump administration and orders the return of Kilmar Abrego, previously deported to El Salvador

The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled against the Trump administration. The nation's highest court upheld the order of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, which had ordered the return to the country of Kilmar Ábrego García, previously deported to El Salvador. The White House maintains that the Salvadoran is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a transnational gang recently designated as a terrorist organization.

In an emergency ruling that carried no signatures, the court upheld Judge Paula Xinis' previous decision. Xinis noted that the Trump administration committed a "grave error" in sending Ábrego García to El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) and then requested his immediate return.

"The district court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps," the ruling reads.

In turn, it asked Judge Xinis to clarify the language of her order: "The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps," they added.

According to Xinis, who former President Barack Obama nominated, the accusations that point to the Salvadoran as a member of MS-13 are based on "a single unfounded accusation." Ábrego García was living in the United States under protected legal status and, in 2019, was charged as a gang member. Because he was not convicted of any crime, a judge barred his deportation on the grounds that he would be in danger in his home country.

For the district judge, his arrest on March 12 and subsequent deportation were "without legal justification." Therefore, his repatriation gives him the right to "due process in accordance with the Constitution and the immigration statutes that govern" in the United States.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), recently suspended the acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation, Erez Reuveni, ordering the Salvadoran's deportation. Attorney General Pam Bondi, justified the decision by explaining that all attorneys who are part of the agency are obligated to "zealously defend the United States" and that "any attorney who does not abide by this directive will face consequences."