EMERGENCY DOCKET

Justices direct government to facilitate return of Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador

The Supreme Court on Thursday evening largely left in place an order by a federal judge in Maryland directing the government to return to the United States a Maryland man who is currently being held in a maximum-security prison in El Salvador as a result of what the Trump administration concedes was an “administrative error.” In an unsigned opinion without any recorded dissents, the court turned down the Trump administration’s request to block the ruling by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, which Chief Judge John Roberts had temporarily paused on Monday afternoon to give the justices time to consider the government’s request.

The justices agreed that Xinis could require the Trump administration to “‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to” that country. But the justices sent the case back to the lower court for Xinis to “clarify” her additional instruction that the Trump administration “effectuate” his return.

In making that clarification, the justices wrote, Xinis should take note of the “deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.” On the other hand, they added, the Trump administration “should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken” to secure Abrego Garcia’s return “and the prospect of further steps.”

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Thursday, April 10

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Thursday morning read:

• Supreme Court lets Trump remove independent regulators, for now (Ann E. Marimow, The Washington Post)
• Rulings in New York and Texas Curb Deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador (Alan Feuer & Jonah E. Bromwich, The New York Times)
• Supreme Court tepid on Trump while defending power to check president (Devin Dwyer, ABC News)
• Supreme Court denies request to halt Karen Read murder retrial as jury selection nears end (N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Christopher Cann, & Jessica Trufant, USA Today)
• The Supreme Court Doesn’t Need Facts (Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic)

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Wednesday, April 9

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Wednesday morning read:

• Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers (Mark Sherman, The Associated Press)
• Was the supreme court’s deportation ruling a win for Trump or immigrants? (Alice Speri, The Guardian) 
• Judge Boasberg cancels hearing on Trump deportations after Supreme Court ruling (Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, & Peter Charalambous, ABC News)
• In Trump Cases, Supreme Court Retreats From Confrontation (Adam Liptak, The New York Times)
• Trump’s Triple Win at the Supreme Court (Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal)

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Tuesday, April 8

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Tuesday morning read:

• Supreme Court Clears Way for Venezuelan Deportations to Resume, for Now (Abbie VanSickle, The New York Times)
• Supreme Court says Venezuelans Trump wants to deport must be able to ‘actually seek’ relief before being deported (Josh Gerstein, Politico)
• Chief Justice Roberts pauses deadline for return of Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador (Mark Sherman, The Associated Press)
• Trump Tariffs Hit With Lawsuit by Group His Supreme Court Adviser Funded (Shane Croucher & Khaleda Rahman, Newsweek)
• New York gun restrictions stand after high court declines review (Kelsey Reichmann, Courthouse News Service)

EMERGENCY DOCKET

Trump asks Supreme Court to block order to return wrongly deported man to U.S.

This article was updated on April 7 at 4:04 p.m.

The Trump administration came to the Supreme Court on Monday morning, asking the justices to block an order by a federal judge in Maryland that instructed the federal government to return a Maryland man erroneously deported to El Salvador, where he is being held in a maximum-security mega-prison, to the United States by Monday evening.

Shortly before 4 p.m. on Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts granted the government’s request for an administrative stay, and he instructed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s lawyers to file their response by 5 p.m. on Tuesday. However, just a few minutes after the court’s Public Information Office released the Roberts order to reporters, it also distributed Abrego Garcia’s response, which had just been submitted. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit denied the Department of Justice’s request to block the order on Monday morning. In a concurring opinion joined by Judge Robert King, Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote that the federal government “has no legal authority to snatch a person who is lawfully present in the United States off the street and remove him from the country without due process.”