By Sam Dorman and Tom Ozimek
Contributing Writers
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has denied the Trump administration’s request that it block a federal judge’s orders, one of which required it to facilitate the return of an illegal immigrant from El Salvador whom the government said was deported to his home country due to an administrative error.
“While we fully respect the executive’s robust assertion of its Article II powers, we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision,” Judge Harvie Wilkinson said on Thursday in a statement joined by two other circuit judges.
The administration told the Fourth Circuit in a Wednesday filing that it should block U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order requiring it to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, as well as her order for expedited discovery to determine whether the administration complied with an order for that facilitation.
An initial order from Xinis required the administration to “facilitate” and “effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return. Still, the Supreme Court stepped in on April 10, stating that she should clarify what she meant by “effectuate.”
“The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” the Supreme Court said.
On April 10, Xinis responded to the Supreme Court ruling by amending her original order to say, “Direct that defendants take all available steps to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States as soon as possible.”
The administration’s emergency motion on Wednesday argued that “under the guise of an amended order,” Xinis had “set down the same unjustifiable path, all in service of a member of a foreign terrorist organization with no valid right to be in the United States.”
The case has raised questions about the nation’s separation of powers, specifically how much judges can intervene in foreign affairs.
Bondi Says Deported El Salvador Man Not Coming Back
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday that deported Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia will not be returning to the United States.
“He is not coming back to our country. President Bukele said he was not sending him back. That’s the end of the story,” Bondi told reporters at an April 16 press conference in Washington, referring to remarks made earlier this week by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, who rejected the idea of returning him.
“If he wanted to send him back, we would give him a plane ride back,“ Bondi said. ”There was no situation ever where he was going to stay in this country. None, none.”
Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, was arrested on March 12 and three days later was placed on a deportation flight to El Salvador.
Before his deportation, Garcia had been living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen wife and children. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him “withholding of removal” status after finding he faced credible threats from the rival Barrio 18 gang if deported.
An attorney for the Justice Department had said that Garcia’s removal was an “administrative error.” However, White House adviser Stephen Miller said on Monday on Fox News: “He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador. This was the right person sent to the right place.”
The attorney has since been placed on indefinite paid leave for his comments.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Bondi said that “one additional step in paperwork” had been missed but that the deportation was ultimately justified.
“He’s from El Salvador. He’s in El Salvador. And that’s where the president plans on keeping him,” she said.
Bondi said Garcia is a member of MS-13, a transnational criminal organization recently designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist group.
“He would have come back, had one extra step of paperwork and gone back again,” Bondi said of what would happen if Garcia were to be returned to the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security echoed that point in a court filing on Tuesday, stating that if Garcia were returned, he would be taken into custody and either deported to a third country or have his legal protection revoked and be sent back to El Salvador.
Garcia’s attorneys said there is no credible evidence linking him to MS-13. They filed suit to compel his return, arguing that the government had violated a standing court order. A federal judge agreed and directed officials to bring him back, prompting an emergency appeal from the Justice Department.
In response, the Supreme Court temporarily paused the lower court’s order on April 7, but it did not overturn it. Three days later, the Supreme Court clarified that the federal government must “facilitate” Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador to ensure that his case proceeds as it would have had he not been improperly deported.
Since then, the administration has been providing daily status updates to the Maryland judge overseeing the case. Bondi said Wednesday that the U.S. government’s responsibility ends with offering transportation, should El Salvador choose to release him.
In a Tuesday status update, DHS said it lacked authority to “forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.”
Salvadoran President Bukele rejected the idea during a Monday visit to the White House. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” he said. “I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”
