Fri Apr 11 08:00:00 UTC 2025: ## Supreme Court Orders Return of Wrongfully Deported Salvadoran Man

**Washington, D.C.** – In a decision hailed as a victory against the Trump administration’s immigration policies, the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongly deported last month. Garcia, 29, was living in Maryland under protected legal status when he was deported along with over 200 others to El Salvador as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants, many suspected of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

The Justice Department later admitted Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.” Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and having a court order preventing his deportation due to safety concerns in El Salvador, he was sent to the notorious CECOT counterterrorist prison.

Lower courts ordered Garcia’s return by Monday, but the Supreme Court temporarily stayed that order after the government argued it lacked jurisdiction over Garcia now that he was in El Salvador. The government also claimed, without sufficient evidence presented to lower courts, that Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem expressed confidence in keeping those detained at CECOT incarcerated. The White House has previously touted a $6 million deal with El Salvador to house alleged gang members in the high-security prison.

Thursday’s Supreme Court decision clarifies that while the Monday deadline is void, the order for Garcia’s return remains in effect. However, the lower court must revise its order, considering the executive branch’s role in foreign affairs. A dissenting statement by liberal justices argued there was no legal basis for Garcia’s removal.

Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, celebrated the ruling as a triumph for the rule of law. Human Rights Watch has called for transparency regarding the deportees held in CECOT and condemned the treatment of those sent there by both the U.S. and Salvadoran governments. The Supreme Court’s decision comes amidst a separate ruling allowing the Trump-era deportation of Venezuelan migrants under an 18th-century law.

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