Can the US return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador?

On March 12, Kilmar Abyga Garcia drove home with his young son in Merilend when he was stopped by agents from the US immigration and the execution of customs (ICE).

The agents took in custody, Garcia, and then closed it in a detention center in Louisiana and Texas.

According to the federal judge, after three days “without any notice, legal process or hearing”, Mr. Garcia found himself in his native Salvador in a sad prison, known for the housing.

The government stated that it was deported from the “administrative mistake”.

But despite this, Mr. Garcia remains imprisoned in Salvador, when the lawyers discuss the unusual subtleties of the case.

Maryland’s court ordered the return of Mr. Garcia to the US, but Trump officials claimed that they could not force Salvador to return Mr. Garcia. The administration also claimed that the judge, who ordered his return, lacked the powers.

On Monday, the Supreme Court outlined temporary detention at the lower court order when they viewed the issue.

Immigration experts say that when US President Donald Trump is taking a tough approach to illegal immigration, this case has a potential to enhance the proper process for immigrants.

“If the US Supreme Court took the position (Trump administration), it would fully provide any rule of law in the process of immigration,” said BBC Morin Sainini, Director of the University of the Maryland Center for Immigrant Affairs.

“Because they could pick up anyone at any time and send them anywhere without the following consequences.”

In a statement on Sunday, US District Judge Pavel Sinis wrote that ice officials did not follow the procedures in the law on immigration and nationality when they were deported by Mr. Garcia to Salvador.

She ruled that the US should return it to midnight on Monday. The Appeal Court of the Fourth District Court agreed, writing that the United States “did not have the legal powers to snatch a person who is legally present in the US on the street.”

However, the Trump administration claims that it cannot fulfill, saying that the submission of the judge Sinis is overwhelming her jurisdiction.

“Neither the Federal District Court nor the US have the powers to tell the Salvador government what to do,” US General Lawyer John Savel wrote in an address to the Supreme Court.

Nicole Hellett, Professor of the Chicago University Law School, stated that while this is true – the US district judges cannot order Salvador to take action – they can order the US government to return Mr. Garcia.

She also said that the US had previously contributed to the return of mistakenly deported persons.

Professor Hallet also questioned the government’s statement that the United States will force Salvador to release Mr. Garcia, citing an agreement between the two countries.

The US, according to the Trump administration, was paid by the Salvador government of $ 6 million to accommodate the prisoners he sends, according to CBS News, the US partner BBC. High officials, such as Secretary of State Mark Rubio and Trump himself, publicly advertised an agreement.

“It is almost as if the government of Salvadoran acts as an agent of the US government,” said Mr. Herlet, claiming it makes the issue more plausible.

Garcia’s lawyers claimed that since Salvador’s Salvador detained Mr. Garcia “at the direct request and in accordance with the US financial compensation”, the court may order the US government to ask for its return.

Mr. Garcia is one of the 238 Venezuelans and 23 salvadorans deported by the Trump administration to the notorious mega-Salvador. Officials claim that they are members of the gang and are therefore subject to deportation.

Mr. Garcia, who is married to a US citizen, has no gang connections and is never accused of a crime, his lawyer says.

It was also protected by the order of “refusing removal”, which means that the US government cannot send it back to Salvador because it may threaten the damage. The order goes back to 2019, when Ice first took Mr. Garcia into custody and allegedly belonged to the MS-13 criminal organization, accusing at the time.

Such orders are common, immigration lawyers reported the BBC and are an alternative to protection of the shelter.

“It was an illegal act to return it to a country where it cannot be returned,” said Ameli Wilson, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Pace.

In the end, the judge made Mr. Garcia in the order of 2019 after he “testified how he fell victim to the gang in Salvador when he was a teenager and he arrived in the United States to avoid it all,” his wife Jennifer Vaskes Sura wrote in March 2025.

Prosecutor of the Ministry of Justice, Erewi Revenue, acknowledged that at a time when “the government did not appeal the decision, so it is final.”

Currently, Trump’s administration repeats the allegations that Mr. Garcia belonged to MS-13, but Judge Sinis said the government had expressed the claim “without any evidence” and did not make an order to remove and warrants.

The Trump administration continues to attract its case to the country’s top court, establishing a potential disassembly over the White House deportation strategy.

Chief Judge John Roberts made an administrative stay on Monday night, stopping the lower court rulings, while the US Supreme Court considers the government’s appeal.

President Trump has advertised his stay as a victory, wrote about the truth of the social that the resolution allowed the president to “provide our borders, as well as to protect our families and our country.”

Meanwhile, immigration lawyers are closely monitoring the Garcia’s case, considering it a test of how much power the administration can exert immigration in the US.

“When the Trump administration tries to remove these persons bypassing the immigration courts,” said Ms Wilson, “there is a direct and obvious line between what they are doing, and the administration’s efforts are fully usurped by the trial and proper process.”