Supreme Court freezes order to return man from El Salvador prison

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Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay Monday blocking, for now, a lower court order that required the Trump administration to return by midnight a Maryland resident who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last month. 

Justice Roberts temporarily froze the lower court order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who had ordered the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who, last month, was mistakenly sent to El Salvador, by 12 a.m. Tuesday.

The government has acknowledged that Abrego Garcia's removal from the U.S. was an "administrative error." 

The filing from Roberts comes after the Trump administration appealed the lower court's decision both to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court on Monday morning, in anticipation of the appellate court decision. 

Judges on the Fourth Circuit voted unanimously earlier in the day to reject the Justice Department's request for an administrative stay, clearing the way for the nation's top court to intervene.

The eleventh-hour pause granted by Roberts gives the Trump administration additional time to comply with the court order requiring Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S.

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Roberts ordered the case stayed "pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court," and asked for a response from plaintiffs by Tuesday night.

Lawyers for Abrego Garcia responded immediately.

In a reply brief filed to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Abrego Garcia noted the extraordinary circumstances surrounding his deportation. 

"This case is one of one," they told the court.

"It presents the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ of the Government conceding that it erred in removing Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia ‘to a foreign country for which he was not eligible for removal,'" they added.

"Abrego Garcia has never been charged with a crime, in any country. He is not wanted by the Government of El Salvador," they said. "He sits in a foreign prison solely at the behest of the United States, as the product of a Kafka-esque mistake."

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?Prison officers stand guard a cell block at maximum security penitentiary on April 4, 2025 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador. (Alex Pe?a/Getty?)

The eleventh-hour intervention from Roberts comes as the Trump administration has come under intense scrutiny for its deportation flights to El Salvador, which sent roughly 261 migrants, including more than 100 Venezuelan nationals targeted for immediate removal under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, last month.

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The legality of using a wartime immigration law to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals from the U.S. is also being considered by the Supreme Court separately. A ruling in that case is expected in the coming days. 

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.