The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on Thursday requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to “facilitate” the return of a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported along with illegal immigrant gang members to El Salvador in March.
According to Fox News, 29-year-old Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was living in Maryland, was deported for allegedly being a member of the MS-13 gang. The outlet noted that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration on Monday to coordinate the illegal immigrant’s return from El Salvador and described Garcia’s deportation as “wholly unlawful.”
“On March 15, 2025, the United States removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from the United States to El Salvador, where he is currently detained in the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT),” the Supreme Court said in Thursday’s ruling. “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.”
The Daily Wire reported that Thursday’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court did not establish a deadline for Abrego Garcia’s return but requires the Trump administration to take “steps” to “facilitate” his return to the United States. However, the Supreme Court’s order distinguished between the terms “facilitate” and “effectuate” in its order.
READ MORE: Video: Supreme Court sides with Trump on Alien Enemies Act; deportations continue
“The intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority,” the Supreme Court stated. As a result, the Supreme Court called for the district court to “clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”
Following Thursday’s ruling, Trump’s Justice Department told Fox News, “As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs.” The Justice Department added, “By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.”
According to The Daily Wire, Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling will now require the lower court to issue a clarification regarding the requirements the Trump administration will have to meet as it facilitates the return of Abrego Garcia.
ABC News reported that Xinis outlined additional requirements for the Trump administration during a court hearing on Friday. Xinis told the Trump administration to provide her with information regarding Garcia’s current status and location, what steps the administration has taken to facilitate Garcia’s return, and what future steps the administration will take to return Garcia to Maryland.
“From now until compliance, [I am] going to require daily statuses, daily updates,” the judge said. “We’re going to make a record of what, if anything, the government is doing or not doing.”
