Skip to main content

Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.

Update 3:20 PM Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has temporarily paused a judge’s deadline to return a Salvadoran man to the US while the Court reviews the Trump administration’s emergency request.

The Department of Justice has formally asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court’s order requiring the return of an undocumented immigrant with Temporary Protected Status who was wrongly deported to El Salvador.

Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, the Trump administration has received some criticism for its handling related to the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s. On March 15, Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Salvadoran national who lived in Maryland for years—was deported to El Salvador, even though a 2019 immigration court ruling explicitly said he couldn’t be removed because gangs were threatening his family’s business. The US government admitted it screwed up and called it an “administrative error,” but later turned around and claimed Garcia was part of MS-13—something his family says is bullshit. A federal judge ultimately said the deportation was unlawful and ordered the government to bring him back, saying it violated due process.

3000

What’s going on now: In a notable development, the Trump administration is now appealing to the Supreme Court in an effort to block a lower court’s order requiring the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States. Solicitor General D. John Sauer submitted an emergency request just hours before the court-imposed deadline, arguing that the judiciary is overstepping its authority in matters of foreign relations. “Even amidst a deluge of unlawful injunctions, this order is remarkable,” Sauer wrote in the filing. “The Constitution charges the president, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the nation against foreign terrorists, including by effectuating their removal.”

The administration has maintained that, although Garcia’s deportation was an administrative error, courts have no right to compel the executive branch to reverse it. Sauer continued, “That does not license district courts to seize control over foreign relations, treat the executive branch as a subordinate diplomat, and demand that the United States let a member of a foreign terrorist organization into America tonight.”

Trump officials are also noting logistical and diplomatic restrictions, arguing that the US cannot guarantee the cooperation of El Salvador in returning Garcia, especially under an “absurdly compressed, mandatory deadline” imposed by the court.

This all comes as President Trump has openly floated the idea of sending certain US criminals to El Salvador’s mega-prison, a proposal that has sparked controversy amid ongoing legal challenges to his deportation policies. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “If we could take some of our 20-time wise guys that push people into subways and that hit people over the back of the head and that purposely run people over in cars — if [El Salvador’s president] would take them, I would be honored to give them.”

He added, “If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I’m all for it, but I would only do according to the law.” Trump also suggested expanding deportation beyond undocumented immigrants, saying, “Why should it stop just the people that cross the border illegally? We have some horrible criminals, American grown and born.”

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Keep up to date with our latest videos, news and content