The US Supreme Court has granted a temporary reprieve to the Trump administration by blocking a lower court’s order that required a deported Salvadoran man to be brought back to the United States, Reuters reported.
Chief Justice John Roberts approved the request to pause the ruling, which had mandated that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be returned by 11:59 pm on Monday.
Mr Garcia was deported on 15 March, with the government initially citing an “administrative error” for his removal. However, it also claims he is a member of the MS-13 gang, a charge denied by his legal team.
In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the administration argued that the district judge had overstepped her authority and that it was not within the power of the US government to force El Salvador to comply.
“The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding,” wrote Solicitor General D John Sauer.
He added: “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.”
Mr Garcia is currently detained in El Salvador’s maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center, known as Cecot. His wife, US citizen Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has called for his release.
The 29-year-old entered the US as a teenager and had previously been granted protection from deportation in 2019. His lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said the deportation amounted to “the equivalent of a forcible expulsion”.
Last week, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Mr Garcia was being held “without legal basis” and the government acted “without any lawful authority”.
Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni, who had admitted Mr Garcia “should not have been removed”, was placed on administrative leave, according to US Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Supreme Court intervened just hours before the return deadline, which officials had described as “impossible”.
