The US Supreme Court has instructed the Trump administration to return a man who was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador mega-prison because of an error.
After Donald Trump invested in a plan to tackle illegal immigration in the United States, more than 250 alleged criminals have currently been deported to El Salvador’s mega prison CECOT.
The prison houses Venezuelan gang members, as well as mass murderers and has been dubbed the ‘worst prison in the world’.
With the capacity to house over 40,000 inmates, it’s not only large, but it’s packed full with dangerous men – and one innocent one.
The Trump administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting a Maryland father who held protected legal status, after wrongly suspecting him of gang involvement.
Just over a week ago, officials said they were unable to bring him back because he was in Salvadoran custody. However, the Supreme Court has now issued an order demanding his return.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was granted protected status by an immigration judge in 2019 a ruling that should have prevented his deportation.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys stated that he fled gang violence more than a decade ago, but an administrative error led to his arrest by ICE in mid-March, mistakenly linking him to a “prominent role in MS-13,” according to a court filing.
In a declaration, acting ICE field office director Robert Cerna explained how the error may have happened.
He noted that Abrego Garcia was not originally on the manifest for the Title 8 deportation flight to El Salvador. Instead, he was listed as an alternate. As other passengers were removed from the flight for various reasons, he moved up the list and was ultimately assigned to the flight.
“The manifest did not indicate that Abrego-Garcia should not be removed. Through an administrative error, he was deported to El Salvador,” the declaration stated. “This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on a final removal order and the mistaken belief that he was affiliated with MS-13.”
Now that the Trump administration has acknowledged the deportation was a mistake, the Supreme Court has stepped in to support a lower court’s directive to “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.
On Thursday, April 10, the Court issued a unanimous 9-0 decision, declining to block the lower court’s order. This means Abrego Garcia must now be released from Salvadoran custody, and his case must proceed as if he had never been wrongly deported.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s attorney, praised the ruling, stating, “The rule of law prevailed. The Supreme Court upheld the district judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home.”
The case will now return to the trial court, though the justices did not set a specific deadline for his return.
