Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, April 17, 2025

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador who was illegally deported from the United States on March 15, 2025, in what the Trump administration called "an administrative error." He was imprisoned without trial in the Salvadoran maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), despite never having been charged with nor convicted of a crime in either country, as part of an agreement between the two countries that El Salvador imprison U.S. deportees there for payment. The administration has defended the deportation in the press by accusing him of membership in the MS-13 gang, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization—an accusation based on a bail determination made during a 2019 immigration court proceeding, which Abrego Garcia contested.

Abrego Garcia grew up in El Salvador and then immigrated illegally to the United States in 2011 at the age of 16 to escape gang threats. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him withholding of removal status—a rare alternative to asylum—due to the danger he faced from gang violence if he returned to El Salvador. This status allowed him to live and work legally in the United States. At the time of his deportation in 2025, he was living in Maryland with his wife and children, all American citizens, and was complying with annual check-ins with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On April 10, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that Abrego Garcia's removal to El Salvador was illegal. The Court rejected the administration's defense, which claimed it lacked the legal authority to exercise jurisdiction over El Salvador and secure his return. Justice Sotomayor noted that this argument implied the government "could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene."

The Supreme Court required the U.S. to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's release but stopped short of a lower court's directive to both "facilitate and effectuate" his return, instead directing the lower court to clarify what it meant by "effectuate." The administration interpreted "facilitate" to mean it is not obligated to arrange his release and return, and can meet its obligation by admitting him into the U.S. and providing a plane if El Salvador chooses to release him, which President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador refuses to do. Bukele stated in an Oval Office meeting that he would not "smuggle a terrorist into the United States".

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador and on April 18, 2025, said that Abrego Garcia told him that he had been transferred from CECOT to another prison in El Salvador, where he is being held in isolation.

Background

Abrego Garcia, pictured in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement document dated 2019

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Abrego Garcia was born in the Los Nogales neighborhood of San Salvador, El Salvador, in July 1995. In El Salvador, the Barrio 18 criminal gang tried to extort his mother's pupusa business for money and threatened that if she did not pay the money, they would force her eldest son, Cesar, to join the gang; the gang later threatened to kill him. As a result, the family paid the money and hid Cesar, eventually sending him to the United States. Barrio 18 then turned its attention to Kilmar, who was around 12 years old. The gang followed Kilmar and continued to threaten his family. Eventually, when Kilmar was 16 years old, his family sent him to the U.S. as well. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Abrego Garcia illegally crossed the Mexico–U.S. border near McAllen, Texas, in March 2012.

From the U.S. border, Abrego Garcia travelled to Maryland to live with his brother Cesar, who became a U.S. citizen. In 2016, Abrego Garcia met Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen who would become his wife. After marrying, the couple had one child, whom they raised alongside Vasquez Sura's two children from an earlier relationship. All three children have special needs; the son born to the couple has autism, a hearing defect, and is "unable to communicate verbally". Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland with his family, and was not formally convicted of any criminal offense, including gang membership, in the U.S. or in El Salvador.

2019 detention and bond hearings

In March 2019, Abrego Garcia and three other men were arrested by police in Hyattsville, Maryland, in the parking lot of a Home Depot store in which they were seeking work as day laborers. The Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) said multiple detectives interviewed Abrego Garcia and the other men arrested that day. Abrego Garcia was accused of being a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, which began in immigrant communities in Los Angeles and has ties to several Central and South American countries, and is a rival of Barrio 18. The PGPD detectives said they "had reasonable suspicion, based upon their training and experience" that three of the men, including Abrego Garcia, "displayed traits associated with MS-13 gang culture", for which police cited tattoos, clothing, and "information from a source". Abrego Garcia denied any connection to MS-13.

One of the detectives, Ivan Mendez, was suspended from the PGPD in April 2019 for "misconduct in office" unrelated to the incident with Abrego Garcia. Mendez was later terminated in December 2022 after he pleaded guilty to misconduct and he accepted the department's proposal of his termination.

The PGPD gave custody of Abrego Garcia to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to initiate deportation proceedings. ICE agents took him into custody, and the PGPD later said that they had no future interactions with Abrego Garcia. In his legal proceedings, the U.S. government claimed that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 because "he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents" when arrested, and alleged that such clothes are "indicative of the Hispanic gang culture". MS-13 had previously adopted the Chicago Bulls logo as a gang symbol. Officials also said they spoke to a "past and proven reliable confidential source" who "advised" them that Abrego Garcia was an active gang member with the moniker "Chele". The government said the informant alleged that Abrego Garcia was active with MS-13's "western clique", which is based in New York, where Abrego Garcia has never lived. The informant also claimed he held the MS-13 rank of chequeo; according to MS-13 author Steven Dudley, chequeo is not a rank within MS-13 but refers to yet-to-be-initiated recruits.

In Abrego Garcia's hearing, neither the PGPD officers nor the confidential informant were cross-examined. Standards of evidence in U.S. immigration hearings are lower than in trials: the government's claims are assumed to be true, while the burden of proof rests with the defendant. Additionally, "Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien" forms—which consist largely of hearsay—are considered "inherently reliable" and admissible in court. The judge presiding over Abrego Garcia's case determined the informant's claim was sufficient evidence in support of his gang membership to deny Abrego Garcia's request for bond. On appeal, a second judge upheld that ruling, finding that the claim was not clearly wrong.

Vasquez Sura said the government had "absolutely no evidence" and "Kilmar is not and has never been a gang member". Abrego Garcia was never charged with a crime, and The Washington Post reported that no court ever made a "full adjudication" of whether he was indeed a gang member.

Withholding of removal status and later legal issues

While awaiting the resolution of his deportation proceedings, Abrego Garcia married Vasquez Sura in June 2019. The couple married while Abrego Garcia was still detained, with the two separated by glass and an officer giving them both their wedding rings. He applied for asylum after his request for bail was refused in order to prevent his deportation to El Salvador, saying he feared returning due to threats of prosecution and torture. A judge denied his request for asylum, because asylum applications must be submitted within one year of one's arrival in the United States.

However, Abrego Garcia also applied for "withholding of removal" status. This request was granted by immigration judge David M. Jones, who issued a removal order but barred deportation to El Salvador, saying he faced a "clear probability of future persecution" in the country, and he "demonstrated that [El Salvador's] authorities were and would be unable or unwilling to protect him." The judge wrote that Abrego Garcia provided "substantial documentation" in favor of his claims and that his testimony was "internally consistent, externally consistent", and "appeared free of embellishment".

Withholding of removal status is "similar to asylum" but requires a higher burden of proof, and does not preclude potential deportation to a third country not covered by the status. Those granted the status are allowed to remain and work lawfully in the U.S. indefinitely, though they do not become eligible for a green card and permanent residency after a period of time or gain a path to citizenship. After Abrego Garcia won the status, he was released from custody and ICE did not appeal the ruling. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security granted him a work permit, and he lived and worked legally in Maryland. He was required to check in with ICE annually, with which he complied. Later in 2019, Vasquez Sura gave birth to their child, a U.S. citizen. Abrego Garcia continued working to support his family. He became a sheet metal apprentice in September 2024, and was pursuing his journeyman's license at the time of his deportation.

Abrego Garcia faced additional allegations of criminal activity, none of which resulted in a conviction. In 2021, Vasquez Sura sought a protective order against him, alleging that he had physically attacked her on multiple occasions. She did not appear for the hearing and the application was dismissed. She said that they "were able to work through this situation privately as a family" and that she had "acted out of caution after a disagreement" and sought an order "in case things escalated", which they did not. Later in 2025, she described Abrego Garcia as "a loving partner and father".

In 2022, at a traffic stop on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, Abrego Garcia and eight others were stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for speeding and veering out of his lane. Abrego Garcia said they were traveling for construction work. Because there was no luggage in the vehicle, the officer suspected that it could be a case of human trafficking. The Highway Patrol processed his driver's license and found that it was expired and contained a note to contact federal authorities because of his alleged affiliation with MS-13. The agency contacted ICE, which declined to take Abrego Garcia into custody, and no charges were filed against him.

Trump administration deportation policy

Main articles: Deportation in the second presidency of Donald Trump and Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration

During his 2024 campaign for president of the United States, Donald Trump pledged that if elected, he would enact the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history against illegal immigrants in the United States. His pledge included the deportation of some legal immigrants, and he said that he would deport over 10 million people through sweeping immigration raids. After Trump's inauguration, he began an immigration crackdown. By April 2025, illegal border crossings into the U.S. dropped dramatically, with arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doubling and the number of people in immigration detention reaching an all-time high. To facilitate mass arrests, his administration removed a rule protecting illegal immigrants in sensitive places such as churches and courtrooms and approved the removal of migrants temporarily admitted by the Joe Biden administration.

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order designating gangs such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. In February, Bukele offered the U.S. the use of its Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a Salvadoran prison notorious for harsh conditions, to imprison criminal deportees of any nationality, including Americans. The Trump administration made an agreement with El Salvador to imprison deportees at CECOT for US$6 million per year. Bukele was first elected president of El Salvador in 2019 and was re-elected in a landslide in 2024. He imposed a state of emergency in early 2022 after a surge in gang violence, which empowered him to carry out mass arrests and has been criticized for bypassing due process and imprisoning people without ties to gangs. Bukele's crackdown made him extremely popular domestically. In 2021 the US Treasury department sanctioned two officials in Bukele's government while alleging that Bukele's administration had provided financial incentives to gang leaders to keep homicides low and to provide support in elections. Under Biden, the U.S. accused him of democratic backsliding, though he has been praised by allies of Trump. In Trump's second presidency, Bukele positioned El Salvador as a key ally of the United States.

In March, the U.S. deported hundreds of Venezuelans and dozens of Salvadorans to be imprisoned in CECOT. It accused the Venezuelans of being members of Tren de Aragua and the Salvadorans of being members of MS-13. El Salvador's ambassador to the United States, Milena Mayorga, said that Bukele had specifically asked for MS-13 leaders to be included among those deported to El Salvador as "an issue of honor". However, most deportees had no serious criminal history and were detained based on evidence such as tattoos and clothing that the Trump administration said were proof of gang ties.

Trump justified the deportations by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives the president wartime authority to summarily arrest and deport citizens of a nation at war with or invading the U.S.—and declaring that Tren de Aragua was perpetrating an invasion of the United States. The deportees arrived in El Salvador after the judge in J.G.G. v. Trump had issued a temporary restraining order that paused deportations under the act and ordered any such flights stopped or turned around. In response, Bukele wrote on social media: "Oopsie... Too late 😂." According to the Salvadoran government, they do not plan to ever release any prisoner from CECOT.

Terrorism Confinement Center

Main article: Terrorism Confinement Center

Salvadoran justice minister Gustavo Villatoro (left) and U.S. homeland security secretary Kristi Noem (right) observing inmates inside a cell in CECOT, March 2025

Prisoners are held in large concrete cells that the Associated Press reports can house 65 to 70 individuals, but in videos lack enough bunks for everyone. The BBC reports that with access severely restricted and journalists only allowed on choreographed tours, the number of inmates per cell is not clear, that some rights groups put it at 80 while others say it can go above 150, and that when asked, the prison's director responded "where you can fit 10 people, you can fit 20." The cells are furnished with four-story bunks of bare metal without mattresses or sheets, two toilets, two sinks, a jug of drinking water and two Bibles. The cells are artificially lit 24 hours a day and the temperature can reach 35 °C (95 °F) in daytime. Prisoners are allowed to leave their cells for 30 minutes a day for group exercise or Bible readings, both in the hallway. There are no visits, letters, workshops, or prison educational programs, and prisoners are not allowed outside. Food is served without utensils, to keep them from being fashioned into weapons. Occasionally, prisoners who have gained a level of trust give motivational talks.

CNN reported two sources told it the deportees' situation is less regimented, but with the same facilities. The prison director said of the deportees, "there are no privileges."

El Salvador's Minister of Justice has said those held at CECOT would never return to their communities, and the BBC in 2024 cited Miguel Sarre, formerly of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture, as warning that CECOT appeared to be used "to dispose of people without formally applying the death penalty," referring to the fact that no-one had so far been released from the jail. Cristosal, which the BBC described as El Salvador's primary human rights organization, has documented torture and more than 150 deaths in custody in the country during the ongoing State of Exception. Amnesty International has accused Salvadoran authorities of "a systematic policy of torture towards all those detained under the state of emergency on suspicion of being gang members," leading to deaths in custody, and of other prisoners dying due to inhumane conditions and denial of medical care and medicine.

Arrest and deportation in 2025

See also: March 2025 American deportations of Venezuelans

CECOT, the maximum security prison in El Salvador where Abrego Garcia was sent by the U.S. government

On March 12, 2025, after working at his job as a union apprentice, Abrego Garcia picked his son up from his grandmother's house. After leaving the house, an agent of DHS stopped his car. He told him that his immigration "status had changed", waited until his wife arrived to take custody of their son, and then took Abrego Garcia into custody. Abrego Garcia's wife said that ICE called her after detaining her husband and told her "she had ten minutes to pick up her son before he was turned over to child protective services." Detained in Baltimore, Abrego Garcia told his wife that he was repeatedly questioned about whether he was connected to MS-13, and that agents had referenced a restaurant that his family often went to as well as a photo of him playing basketball. In the following days, ICE transferred Abrego Garcia to a detention facility in Texas.

Abrego Garcia called Vasquez Sura on March 15 from Texas, telling his wife that he was being deported to CECOT.

On March 15, the Trump administration sent "three planeloads" of Salvadoran and Venezuelan deportees, including Abrego Garcia, to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, alleging that they were members of criminal organizations. A Bloomberg investigation found that approximately 90% of them had no US criminal record other than traffic or immigration violations. Since being transported to the Terrorism Confinement Center, Abrego Garcia's family has had no contact with him. He has never been convicted or charged with any crime in the United States.

Contesting deportation

Initial consideration in the Maryland district court

Abrego Garcia v. Noem
Court	United States District Court for the District of Maryland
Started	March 24, 2025
Docket nos.	8:25-cv-00951
Court membership
Judge sitting	Paula Xinis

Abrego Garcia's wife sued the United States on March 24, 2025, with herself, Abrego Garcia, and their son as plaintiffs. Their attorneys sought court intervention to compel the administration to facilitate his return. The U.S. government later acknowledged to the court that the government had been aware of the immigration judge's order preventing his removal to El Salvador, stating in a court filing that "[a]lthough ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error." This admission marked the first acknowledgment of a mistake related to the deportation of hundreds of people on March 15.

Despite acknowledging the error, the Trump administration has argued in court that the court lacks personal jurisdiction to order the return of Abrego Garcia, as he is no longer in U.S. custody.

Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, stated that the U.S. government was claiming "that the court is powerless to order any relief...If that's true, the immigration laws are meaningless—all of them—because the government can deport whoever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want, and no court can do anything about it once it's done." Abrego Garcia's lawyer has requested that if necessary, the court order the Trump administration to withhold the money it is paying the Salvadoran government to imprison men at CECOT.

On April 4, 2025, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that his deportation to El Salvador, without any kind of judicial documentation warranting it, was illegal and that he would be irreparably harmed if he remained in El Salvador, and she ordered the government to ensure his return to the U.S. no later than April 7. She described CECOT as "one of the most notoriously inhumane and dangerous prisons in the world" that "by design, deprives its detainees of adequate food, water, and shelter, fosters routine violence" and places Abrego Garcia with his persecutors. She cited conditions there in her opinion as a reason why leaving Abrego Garcia in prison while the lawsuit proceeded would constitute irreparable harm.

Erez Reuveni (Justice Department lawyer)

In the April 4 hearing before Judge Xinis, Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni frequently refused to answer the judge's questions, and stated that the justice department had failed to give him the information he needed to respond to the Judge's inquiries. Reuveni admitted the deportation was a mistake, saying "the facts are conceded, plaintiff Abrego Garcia should not have been removed," and when questioned on why the government was not able to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., Reuveni stated that he had asked the same question to government officials and had not received an answer.

The following day, the Department of Justice (DOJ) placed Reuveni on administrative leave along with his supervisor August "Auggie" Flentje. Reuveni had previously been promoted to acting deputy director of the DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation on March 21. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented in a statement: "At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States. Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences." Bondi further clarified later stating: "He did not argue ... He shouldn't have taken the case. He shouldn't have argued it, if that's what he was going to do ... You have to vigorously argue on behalf of your client." Politico noted that despite Bondi's assertions, Reuveni "did argue that Xinis had no jurisdiction to consider the case." The DOJ fired Reuveni on April 15, saying that he had sabotaged the Abrego case.

Initial appeal to the Fourth Circuit

Abrego Garcia v. Noem
Court	4th Cir.
Full case name	Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia et al. v. Kristi Noem et al.
Decided	April 7, 2025
Docket nos.	25-1345
Case history
Appealed from	D. Md.
Court membership
Judges sitting	Robert King, Stephanie Thacker, Harvie Wilkinson III

On April 5, the Department of Justice appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The following day, Judge Xinis issued a 22-page opinion reaffirming her previous ruling. The opinion stated the deportation "shocks the conscience" and was "wholly lawless." She also said that while there were previous assertions that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13, the government has presented "no evidence" Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 and had essentially abandoned that argument in her court. The judge noted that while the government had presented no evidence that Abrego Garcia was a member of a gang, by publicly labeling him a member of MS-13, the government had placed Abrego Garcia at risk in the detention facility because El Salvador "intentionally mixes rival gang members" in the facility. Xinis stated in her opinion: "Defendants seized Abrego Garcia without any lawful authority; held him in three separate domestic detention centers without legal basis; failed to present him to any immigration judge or officer; and forcibly transported him to El Salvador in direct contravention of [immigration law]." The opinion also discussed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's visit to CECOT where she described the prison as "one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use." In response to the government's argument that the court did not have jurisdiction over the matter since Abrego Garcia was no longer in the United States, the judge stated: "Surely, Defendants do not mean to suggest that they have wholesale erased the substantive and procedural protections of [federal immigration law] in one fell swoop by dropping those individuals in CECOT without recourse." The judge argued that, like any other "contract facility" that the government pays for detention, the government had the power to secure and transport detainees, including Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador.

On April 7, an appeals court panel of the Fourth Circuit consisting of judges Stephanie Thacker, Harvie Wilkinson III, and Robert King unanimously denied the Trump administration's appeal of Xinis's order. The appellate court stated that: "[The 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 ... The Government's contention otherwise, and its argument that the federal courts are powerless to intervene, are unconscionable."

Emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court

Noem v. Abrego Garcia
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided April 10, 2025
Full case name	Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, et al. v. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, et al.
Docket no.	24A949
Citations	604 U.S. (more)
Holding
The District Court "properly requires the Government 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 El Salvador"
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Clarence Thomas · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh Amy Coney Barrett · Ketanji Brown Jackson
Case opinion
Majority	Unsigned
Statement	Sotomayor, joined by Kagan, Jackson

On April 7, the Trump administration appealed the Fourth Circuit's ruling via the Supreme Court's emergency docket. The same day, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a short order temporarily staying Xinis's order, allowing the Trump administration to continue keeping Abrego Garcia in the foreign prison pending immediate further review from the entire Supreme Court. In his Supreme Court filing after the stay was issued, Abrego Garcia's lawyer argued for his release: "[Abrego Garcia] has never been charged with a crime, in any country. He is not wanted by the government of El Salvador. He sits in a foreign prison solely at the behest of the United States, as the product of a Kafka-esque mistake."

On April 10, the Supreme Court released a unanimous unsigned order. In reciting the facts of the case the court stated: "The United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal." After reviewing the case, the Supreme Court ruled that the District Court "properly requires the Government 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 El Salvador."

Justice Sotomayor wrote a statement joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, stating in part:

The Government now requests an order from this Court permitting it to leave Abrego Garcia, a husband and father without a criminal record, in a Salvadoran prison for no reason recognized by the law. The only argument the Government offers in support of its request, that United States courts cannot grant relief once a deportee crosses the border, is plainly wrong. ... The Government's argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene. That view refutes itself.

The Supreme Court did not rule that the Trump administration must bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States immediately. Judge Xinis had ordered the government to "facilitate and effectuate" his return, but the Court only granted the "facilitate" part, calling "effectuate" unclear and possibly beyond her authority. The Court remanded the case to the district court, telling it to clarify the issue "with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs," while the government "should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps."

Both sides claimed victory, with one of Abrego Garcia's lawyers stating "The rule of law won today. Time to bring him home," while a Justice Department spokesman spoke of the decision recognizing the "exclusive prerogative of the president to conduct foreign affairs" and that it "illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the president's authority to conduct foreign policy."

"Facilitating" Abrego Garcia's return

Return to the district court

Revised order and initial hearing

External videos
"Attorney for Kilmar Abrego Garcia Speaks to Reporters", April 11, 2025, C-SPAN

After the Supreme Court's April 10 ruling remanding certain issues back to the district court, Judge Xinis amended her earlier order that the Trump administration "facilitate and effectuate" Abrego Garcia's return, telling the Trump administration instead to "take all available steps to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States as soon as possible" and to update her on the morning of April 11, providing information about the steps that the government has taken, where Abrego Garcia is currently located, and what additional steps it plans to take; she also scheduled a status update for that afternoon.

The government requested that she extend the deadline for submitting the update until the following week and postpone the status hearing, and Xinis quickly ordered that she would only give them an extra two hours for the update. The government's subsequent filing only said that it was "impractical" to update her at that time. During the status hearing, Xinis asked Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, where Abrego Garcia was currently located, what the government had done so far to facilitate his return, and what its plans were, but he said that he did not know.

The hearing ended with Xinis ordering the Trump administration to provide "daily updates" answering her previous questions, from an official with "personal knowledge" of the situation.

Government updates and claims

The Trump administration filed their April 12 update ten minutes late, where State Department official Michael Kozak cited "official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador" stating that Abrego Garcia is alive and "currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador … He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador." However, in the memo detailing the transfer, El Salvador implied the United States retained decision-making power. The Trump administration's April 12 update did not answer Xinis' questions to provide information on past and future steps by the Trump administration to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return.

The Trump administration, via ICE official Evan Katz, told the court on April 13 that it had "no updates" for Xinis' order of daily updates. While Katz acknowledged that Abrego Garcia "should not have been removed to El Salvador", Katz also wrote that Abrego Garcia "is no longer eligible for withholding of removal [to El Salvador] because of his membership in MS-13 which is now a designated foreign terrorist organization" (however, Xinis had previously ruled that there was no evidence that Abrego Garcia was part of a gang).

Separately, the Trump administration told the district court on April 13 that it interpreted the order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return as an order to only "remove any domestic obstacles" in the U.S. against Abrego Garcia's return, so there was no requirement to try to obtain Abrego Garcia from El Salvador. The Trump administration further declared that the federal judiciary had "no authority to direct" the Trump administration "to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner".

The Trump administration additionally argued on April 13 against the need to provide more information about efforts to return Abrego Garcia, citing that "discovery could interfere with ongoing diplomatic discussions" with El Salvador. As for information on the Trump administration's deal with El Salvador to imprison deported immigrants, the Trump administration argued against revealing that information due to it being classified, potentially a state secret or under attorney-client privilege.

On April 14, Homeland Security Department lawyer Joseph Mazzara updated the court that his department "does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation." On April 16, Mazzara told the district court that there were "no further updates" regarding the situation.

Expedited discovery and consideration of criminal contempt

After the Trump administration's continued inaction in facilitating Abrego Garcia's release and return to the United States, on April 15, Xinis approved a request from Abrego Garcia's lawyers for expedited discovery, ordering the government to turn over documents requested by the lawyers that are related to Abrego Garcia's deportation and their efforts to return him, and requiring deposition of some government officials. She also said that she would review this evidence in assessing whether the government should be held in contempt of court, which Abrego Garcia's lawyers had requested.

Appeal to appeals court

On April 16, the Trump administration returned to the Fourth Circuit, asking the court to stay Xinis's order for expedited discovery, calling it a "fishing expedition". The next day, judges King, Thacker, and Wilkinson unanimously denied the appeal. In a seven-page ruling, Judge Wilkinson said that Trump was evidently seeking the "weakening the courts" through his "constant intimations of its [the courts'] illegitimacy", and he warned that Trump was also harming himself by creating "a public perception of its [the presidency's] lawlessness and all of its attendant contagions". AP News described the order as an "extraordinary condemnation". The court called the government's request "both extraordinary and premature" and went on to say:

The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.

Trump administration inaction and efforts to influence public perception

The Trump administration has taken no action to help return Abrego Garcia. According to the administration, the Supreme Court's requirement to "facilitate" his return does not mean the government has to take any steps to get him back, other than let him in if El Salvador chooses to release him. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in the April 14 Oval Office meeting with President Bukele, "If they want to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane. That's up for El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us."

In what Politico called sidestepping court orders, Trump has maintained that he is unable to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, as he is in Bukele's custody. Politico noted this as unusual for Trump, who prides himself on strong-arming world leaders.

Trump had initially said "If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back I would do that. I respect the Supreme Court." Regarding Xinis' order, he said, "Well, I'm not talking about the lower court. I have great respect for the Supreme Court." The White House changed its tack later, with the White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller saying "He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador" and "This was the right person sent to the right place," contradicting the Supreme Court's decision that Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal and the administration's previous statements about it being an administrative error. Miller said that acknowledgment of the error came from "a DOJ lawyer who has since been relieved of duty, a saboteur, a Democrat," although NBC noted that Solicitor General Dean John Sauer had also referred to it as an "administrative error" in a filing to the Supreme Court. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had also called it a "clerical error."

Miller also stated that if Bukele were to return Abrego Garcia, he would be deported again, a view Leavitt concurred with, saying that "Deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result" and that there is no scenario in which he would end up living a peaceful life in the United States. Leavitt accused Abrego Garcia of being a foreign terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker gone back to his home country to face the consequences, adding: "I'm not sure what is so difficult about this for everyone in the media to understand."

On April 14, Trump was reminded of his promise to abide by any Supreme Court order to repatriate someone. He answered: "Why don't you just say, 'Isn't it wonderful that we're keeping criminals out of our country?'" and insulted the network asking the question. On April 17, asked if he would bring back Abrego Garcia, Trump said: "Well, I'm not involved in it ... you'll have to speak to the lawyers. The DOJ. I've heard many things about him ... we'll have to find out what the truth is."

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin objected to what she described as the characterization of Abrego Garcia as a "media darling" and "just some Maryland father," saying: "Well, Osama bin Laden was also a father, and yet he wasn't a good guy, and they actually are both terrorists."

The Trump administration also presented documents and press releases from the Department of Homeland Security that intended to show Abrego Garcia as "as a [MS-13] gang member with a violent history". The documents include information related to the 2019 arrest and immigration hearings, information related to a 2021 protective order, and information related to a 2022 traffic stop. This was part of "aggressively building a case against the native Salvadoran [...] designed to combat an onslaught of criticism from Democrats and intensifying scrutiny from the courts."

On April 16, Bondi said Abrego Garcia is "not coming back to our country. ... There was no situation ever where he was going to stay in this country." Others representing the administration have made similar statements. On April 18, in response to a New York Times front page headline reading "Senator Meets With Wrongly Deported Maryland Man in El Salvador", the White House tweeted an image of the front page with several edits in red ink: the word "Wrongly" was crossed out, the words "Maryland Man" were crossed out and replaced with "MS-13 Illegal Alien", and the words "Who’s Never Coming Back" were added at the end. The tweet also said "Oh, and by the way, @ChrisVanHollen — he’s NOT coming back."

Trump–Bukele White House meeting

Bukele with Trump in April 2025

During an April 14 meeting between Presidents Trump and Bukele, Bukele told reporters it was "absurd" to ask if he would return Abrego Garcia. Bukele stated:

Are you suggesting I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? How can I return him to the United States, like I smuggle him into the United States? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous. [...] We just turned the murder capital of the world into the safest country in the western hemisphere, and you want us to go back into releasing criminals, so we can go back to being the murder capital of the world? That's not going to happen.

Trump added that the reporters would "love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people". The administration also claims that an order from the Supreme Court to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release only compels the government to allow Abrego Garcia's entry into the United States if he is released by El Salvador, and that "The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner."

During the meeting, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that it was up to El Salvador, not the American government, whether Abrego Garcia would be released.

Van Hollen trip to El Salvador

In an April 13 letter to Milena Mayorga, the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S., Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland requested a meeting with Bukele during his visit to the United States the next day, to discuss Abrego Garcia's return. The meeting did not occur, and on April 16, Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador from the United States with the intention of visiting Abrego Garcia in prison to assess his health and to meet with representatives of the Salvadoran government in an effort to obtain his release.

At a press conference later that day, Van Hollen stated that he had met with El Salvador's vice president, Félix Ulloa, who told him that the senator had not given sufficient advance notice to arrange a visit with Abrego Garcia. When Van Hollen asked whether he could return the following week, or if either he or Abrego Garcia's wife could speak with him by phone, Ulloa suggested he direct those requests to the U.S. Embassy. Van Hollen said that he asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at CECOT even though he had not been convicted of any crimes in either the U.S. or El Salvador, and described Ulloa's response as "the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador to keep him at CECOT."

External videos
"Sen. Van Hollen on Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case and Attempts to See Him", April 18, 2025, C-SPAN

On April 17, El Salvadoran officials brought Abrego Garcia to meet Van Hollen at his hotel. According to Van Hollen, Abrego Garcia told him during that meeting that he had been moved from CECOT to a detention center in Santa Ana, El Salvador 8 days before, and that his experience at CECOT "traumatized" him. Abrego Garcia was also provided with non-prison clothes and a cap to cover his head, which had been shaved by the prison.

Concerning the meeting, Bukele tweeted, "Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody." Trump accused Van Hollen of grandstanding, saying the senator "looked like a fool".

Roger Stone accused Van Hollen of violating the Logan Act, "a 200-year-old law aimed at preventing people from undermining the government". However, Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University, noted that accusations of violations of the Logan Act are a "useful way for people to accuse each other of undermining U.S. foreign policy" but is not a "meaningful law" that is "likely to ever be used", especially given that no one has ever been convicted under the law and the last prosecution happened in the 1853.

False and misleading information spread by the Trump administration

A number of news organizations have noted how members of the Trump administration have lied and misrepresented facts and the law to the public regarding Abrego Garcia's deportation and detention.

For example, Austin American-Statesman noted that JD Vance "falsely claimed" that Abrego Garcia was a "convicted MS-13 gang member", when he was never charged or convicted of any crime.

Poynter Institute found the following statements misleading:

1. Marco Rubio said that Abrego Garcia was "illegally in the United States and was returned to his country[...] That's where you deport people back to their country of origin", which is misleading because it fails to recognize that Abrego Garcia had been legally living and working in the United States since 2019 under the withholding of removal granted in 2019.
2. Pam Bondi said "[i]n 2019, two courts, an immigration court and an appellate immigration court, ruled that [Abrego Garcia] was a member of MS-13", which is misleading because "The immigration judges' decision to deny bond is not equivalent to ruling that Abrego Garcia was a gang member".
3. Stephen Miller said "[w]e won (the Supreme Court) case 9–0 and people like CNN are portraying it as a loss", which is misleading because the Supreme Court found that the government had failed to follow the law and the orders of the court.

The New Republic found that JD Vance lied when he stated "[a]re you proposing that we invade El Salvador to retrieve a gang member with no legal right to be in our country? Where in the Supreme Court's decision does it require us to do that?" which someone responded to by stating "[n]o, the ruling states clearly that you are required to take steps to facilitate his return and update the court on your progress. You have plenty of tools at your disposal (diplomatic and otherwise) to do this without invading El Salvador." In another article The New Republic stated that the Trump administration was lying when representing that the United States could do nothing to effectuate the return of Abrego Garcia given that the United States has a "contractual arrangement under which we pay El Salvador about $6 million—or $20,000 per detainee per year" and that "[l]ike any other good customer, the United States can easily negotiate the adjustment."

The libertarian magazine Reason stated that Stephen Miller "egregiously misrepresented what the Supreme Court actually said in its order" when he claimed that "The Supreme Court said the district court order was unlawful and its main components were reversed 9-0 unanimously" and the magazine called it a "disgraceful performance."

In the conservative publication The National Review, commentator Andrew McCarthy stated that Pam Bondi's statement that two courts ruled that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13 was "deeply misleading" and that "[it] also departs from the Justice Department's tradition of providing a complete version of facts – even facts that cut against the government's position – because it's the right thing to do and promotes DOJ's credibility with the judiciary and the public."

On April 18, Trump posted a photo on Truth Social of Abrego Garcia's hand, featuring four tattoos allegedly symbolizing MS-13: a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull. The Truth Social post said in part "They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he's got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles." According to an ICE source, although the use of "a '13' tattoo would have been mandatory for Abrego Garcia if he became part of the notorious gang," the specific symbols shown in photographs of Abrego Garcia's knuckles did not specifically resemble MS-13 affiliation to their knowledge. The ICE source theorized that online speculation regarding the tattoos being meant to resemble the characters "MS-13" could be "legit" but that "the best answer would be from informants and/or members within CECOT. Once he is in there, he cannot deny affiliation.”

Trump holding a photograph of the tattoos on Abrego Garcia's knuckles, digitally altered to add "M" "S" "1" "3" either as a good-faith visual aid to show their alleged meaning, or in order to be mistaken for more tattoos

The photo was digitally altered to include the characters "M", "S", "1", and "3" above the symbols, overlaid on Abrego Garcia's hand, and Trump provided no explanation for why the letters and numbers spelling MS-13 were there. There are two interpretations of the graphic: a) that the characters were good-faith visual aids, or b) that they were intended to be mistaken for a tattoo reading "MS13". The image was also digitally altered to include labels under each symbol (e.g. "marijuana" under the leaf), though TheWrap calls them "almost illegibly tiny".

Proposals to jail American citizens

Trump has repeatedly proposed deporting American criminals to CECOT, if the law allows. During Bukele's visit to the U.S., Trump told him, "Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places."

When the U.S. and El Salvador formed an agreement to house people of any nationality in CECOT, Bukele extended the offer to convicted criminals serving their sentence in the United States who were U.S. citizens or legal residents. He confirmed the statement on X, saying he offered the US "the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system." The US government cannot deport American citizens, and Secretary of State Rubio said that "Obviously we'll have to study it on our end. There are obviously legalities involved. We have a Constitution, we have all sorts of things," while calling it "a very generous offer," noting "No one's ever made an offer like that" and that it would cost a fraction of imprisoning criminals in the US. He said that "obviously the administration will have to make a decision."

Trump said he was looking into whether he could move forward with the offer, telling reporters "I'm just saying if we had a legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat" and "I don't know if we do or not, we're looking at that right now." Asked about subsidizing incarcerating American criminals in other countries, Trump said it would be a "small fee compared to what we pay to private prisons," that several countries had already agreed to host American prisoners, and that "It's no different than a prison system except it would be less expensive and it would be a great deterrent." Elon Musk called the proposal a "Great idea!!" on X. Rubio in his remarks specified that this would apply to dangerous criminals; Politico noted that meanwhile, Bukele said on X that El Salvador would gladly take US ex-senator Bob Menendez, who was serving a 11-year prison sentence for bribery but who was not a violent criminal.

Trump later suggested on Truth Social that the "sick terrorist thugs" responsible for the recent vandalism of Tesla property could be sent to Salvadoran prisons, "which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions." Ahead of Bukele's White House visit, Trump confirmed that they would discuss sending Americans to El Salvador's prisons, giving his stance as "I love it" and that he would be honored, but that he'd have to see what the law says, "but I can't imagine the law would say anything different... If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I'm all for it."

Politico cited Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy in the Vera Institute of Justice, as saying there's no precedent to send US citizens outside the country to serve sentences in other countries; "It is so beyond the pale of anything contemplated by the Constitution or due process or the criminal courts." Lauren-Brooke Eisen, the senior director of the justice program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Politico in a statement that the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments such as excessive sentences or inhumane prison conditions, and that deporting Americans would be illegal under the First Step Act, which requires the federal government to send those convicted of federal crimes to "a facility as close as practicable to the prisoner's primary residence, and to the extent practicable, in a facility within 500 driving miles of that residence."

The BBC noted that while US citizens enjoy legal protection from deportation, it is possible for naturalized citizens to be denaturalized. This tends to happen when the citizenship was fraudulently obtained, but citizens suspected of ties to criminal gangs or terrorist organizations, such as Tren de Aragua or MS-13, could, in theory, be stripped of citizenship. They would then be at risk of deportation, although such a move would need a formal court process. Born U.S. citizens could not be denaturalized.

Reactions

The U.S. government's acknowledgment of the deportation error has sparked significant legal and political debate, raising concerns about the efficacy and fairness of U.S. immigration laws and procedures. The Atlantic reports that the standard course for the government to deport someone with protected status would be to reopen the case and introduce new evidence arguing for deportation. The magazine quotes an unnamed government attorney remarking on the government's actions in Abrego Garcia's case as "What. The. Fuck."

On April 15, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia's wife, pleaded for the return of her husband outside of the Maryland courthouse that was holding a status hearing on his case:

My family can't be robbed of another day without seeing Kilmar. This administration has already taken so much from my children, from his mother, brother, sisters and me. [...] Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn't forgotten about you. [...] Our children are asking when will you come home. I pray for the day I tell them the time and date that you will return.

Trump administration

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleged that Abrego Garcia was a leader within MS-13 and had been involved in human trafficking. She stated: "There's a lot of evidence, and the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence, and I saw it this morning." Vice President JD Vance publicly backed the deportation, falsely stating that Abrego Garcia was "convicted" of being a member of MS-13. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an interview regarding the claim that Abrego Garcia was not a gang member: "We have to rely on what ICE says. We have to rely on what Homeland Security says." White House Senior Director of Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka suggested that opposing Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal by asking if it's aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists.

On April 16, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security posted a copy of a civil restraining order against Abrego Garcia filed by his wife in 2021. In the restraining order, his wife accused him of "punching and scratching her, ripping her shirt, and leaving her bruised". The Department of Homeland Security stated "Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding 'Maryland Man' the media has portrayed him as".

In response, Abrego Garcia's wife stated:

After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated. [...] Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. That is not a justification for ICE's action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation. Kilmar has always been a loving partner and father, and I will continue to stand by him and demand justice for him.

The DOJ also released two documents from 2019 that allegedly tied him to the MS-13 criminal gang, including a detective's summary of statements from a confidential informant whom the detective described as a "past proven and reliable source of information".

Members of Congress

Politico reports that Abrego Garcia's deportation has become a political flashpoint, with Democratic lawmakers viewing the administration's refusal to return him despite the Supreme Court ruling as the constitutional crisis they've been warning of, and Republicans, with the support of the administration, seeking to move away from the litigation to make the issue about illegal immigration, an issue they believe is to their favor.

Several Congressional Democrats called for Abrego Garcia's release. Representative Adriano Espaillat of New York stated in a press conference that he would write to President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele to formally ask for Abrego Garcia's release and to know his condition, and that he hoped to visit the Terrorism Confinement Center. He noted that Abrego Garcia had been jailed despite not having been charged with a crime in either the United States or in El Salvador.

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland connected Abrego Garcia to deportations under Trump more broadly, speaking of "people being disappeared" in America, including visiting students and legal immigrants.

Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas called for accountability for President Bukele, under his impending visit to the U.S., for the imprisonment of Abrego Garcia and others in what Castro called "gulags" and "torture prisons."

On April 14, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, stated that the administration was required by law to provide the committee with "any written agreements made with the Salvadoran government on this issue", and requested immediate compliance with the law.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is composed of Democrats, has also called for Abrego Garcia's release.

Republican congressman Jason Smith toured CECOT, as did Republican Congressman Riley Moore, who was photographed giving a double thumbs-up in front of a cell of prisoners. When asked about the issue at a town hall with constituents on April 15, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley stated:

Well, it's not a question of the president following the court order. It's a question of is the president of El Salvador going to do what our Supreme Court wants done? And obviously our Supreme Court doesn't have any control over him, and he says he's not going to return him. So if there's a constitutional crisis, it's not being caused by President Trump, it's being caused by the president of El Salvador. [...] I would expect our president to act in good faith, and I think our president will do that, of making those requests of the president of El Salvador, but whether or not, but how the president of El Salvador responds would be up to that president of El Salvador.

State officials

Democratic governor of Maryland Wes Moore strongly condemned the deportation on the grounds of inadequate due process. Democratic governor of Illinois JB Pritzker on X pointed to Trump's remarks to President Bukele that "Home-growns are next" and that Bukele needed to build more prisons, and Pritzker warned that "if they get away with it now, they'll do it to anyone."

Trade unions

Abrego Garcia's deportation resulted in significant public activism from both his local union, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 100, and the SMART International Union. SMART General President Michael Coleman said the following in response to his deportation: "In his pursuit of the life promised by the American dream, Brother Kilmar was literally helping to build this great country. What did he get in return? Arrest and deportation to a nation whose prisons face outcry from human rights organizations. SMART condemns his treatment in the strongest possible terms, and we demand his rightful return."

Media commentators

Journalist Mark Joseph Stern wrote that, "Abrego Garcia's deportation was unambiguously illegal".

On April 14, Jon Stewart stated on the The Daily Show regarding the situation of keeping Abrego Garcia at CECOT and not returning him to the United States:

Can I honestly tell you? Like, they're fucking enjoying this, like the two of them: our president, their president, [they're like], "I can't do it. I guess we'll just have to let him rot in fucking prison, even though he didn't deserve to be there." [...] I know [Trump and Bukele] don't care about this guy [...] but somebody else cares about this person, and you just randomly, with no evidence that you'll show anybody, call him a terrorist.

In an opinion column for the Chicago Tribune, Elizabeth Shackelford wrote that CECOT is not a prison but "a concentration camp", intended to confine people "without legal justification or limits", and "to break men’s spirits and instill fear outside its walls." She pointed out that authoritarians often "hone tools of oppression against unpopular populations" before using them against whoever they want, and argued that Trump's attack on due process – "our constitutional right to not be arbitrarily deprived of life, liberty and property" – is a threat that the Foundering Fathers recognized, noting the analogy between this case and one of the items they listed as a grievance against King George III in the U.S. Declaration of Independence: "transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences".

Academics

Historian Timothy Snyder describes the case as the "beginning of an American policy of state terror" against those living in the U.S., and discusses the development of state terror. In the initial stage, the state attempts to control language: it identifies some people as "criminals" and "terrorists"; it implies that because these people are bad, its own responses are good; and it associates any criticism of its actions with support for criminality and terrorism. In the next stage, the state moves away from the rule of law (for example, by finding purportedly "legal" means of avoiding constitutional constraints on its actions) and towards coercive power. This stage involves three components: a "leader principle", or Führerprinzip, in which the sovereign claims a popular mandate that makes their claims and actions proper; a "state of exception", in which the sovereign claims a threat that justifies lawless state actions against those supposedly creating the threat; and a "zone of statelessness", either in another country or in an internal concentration camp, where people are not protected by laws. Snyder argues that all of these components are present in this case, and that this is a test of whether Americans will stand for the rule of law, both individually and by demanding that Congress do likewise.

Legal scholar Ryan Goodman and counterterrorism expert Thomas Joscelyn note that the Trump administration has acknowledged violating a judge's withholding of removal order, and that both the district court and the circuit court of appeals have ruled that the administration violated Abrego Garcia's right to due process. They add that not only is the administration "openly flouting" the Supreme Court's order that it facilitate Abrego Garcia's release, it claims that it cannot do so, and even mocks the idea of his return. They then argue that despite the government's efforts to focus the public's attention on Abrego Garcia's alleged ties to MS-13, the case "is about the rule of law, not allegations about Abrego Garcia's gang membership", in particular, "the Trump administration's defiance of the courts and denial of due process – a most basic constitutional right."

See also

• J.G.G. v. Trump – Lawsuit challenging US deportations under the Alien Enemies Act
• Judicial review – Ability of courts to review actions by executive and legislatures

External links

• U.S. Immigration Court (Baltimore, Maryland): In the Matter of Kilmer Armado Abrego-Garcia [sic], Initial bond proceedings order (May 22, 2019); In the Matter of Kilmar Armando Abrego-Garcia [sic], Withholding of removal order (October 10, 2019); In the Matter of Kilmer Armado Abrego-Garcia [sic], Board of Immigration Appeals bond proceedings order (December 19, 2019)
• Further documentation about Abrego Garcia released by USDOJ on April 16, 2025.
• U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland: Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 8:25-cv-00951
• First appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 25-1345
• Second appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 25-1404
• U.S. Supreme Court: Noem v. Abrego Garcia, 24A949