A federal court ordered the Trump Administration to take “all steps available” to facilitate the release of a Marylander who had been sent to El Salvador by mistake. The judge also scheduled a Friday status meeting.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday that the Trump Administration should take steps to bring Kilmar Abrego home. The court rejected the administration’s emergency appeal of the April 4, 2016, order.
An order by the Immigration Department prevented him from returning to his country of origin for fear that he would be persecuted by local gangs.
Xinis acted on the Supreme Court ruling and directed the administration to provide a written statement by Friday morning addressing Abrego’s custody status, his location, as well as the steps taken or planned to facilitate Abrego’s return. A face-to-face status conference was scheduled for the afternoon of Friday.
The Supreme Court has issued several rulings on its emergency docket, wherein the conservative majority supported Trump, at least in part amid a wave of lower court orders that slowed down the president’s agenda. Abrego Garcia is being held in a different country.
In an order without dissent, the court said that it “requires” the Government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release. It also stated that his case should be treated as if he had been sent to El Salvador correctly.
Abrego Garcia is claimed by the administration to be an MS-13 gang member, despite having never been charged or convicted of a crime. According to his lawyers, there was no proof that he belonged to the MS-13 gang.
The administration acknowledged that it had sent him to El Salvador by mistake but claimed it could do nothing. According to the liberal justices on the court, the administration should’ve corrected “its egregious error” as quickly as possible. It was “plainly wrong” to claim it couldn’t return him.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura described the experience as “an emotional rollercoaster” for both her family and community.
“I am anxiously waiting for Kilmar. I know he will be at my home and in my arms, putting the kids to sleep. This nightmare is soon to be over. ” “I will fight till my husband returns home,” she said.
In an order dated April 4th, Xinis stated that the arrest of Abrego Garcia by the government and his subsequent transfer to El Salvador appeared “totally illegal”.
The Judge stated that “little to none” evidence supported Abrego Garcia’s ‘vague, uncorroborated allegation’ about his membership to the MS-13 street gang.
The 29-year-old was detained by immigration agents and deported last month. He had a permit from the Homeland Security Department to legally work in the U.S. and was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing a journeyman license, his attorney said. His wife is a U.S. citizen.
