Supreme Court mandates Trump administration to return wrongly deported Maryland man

The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, gained national attention following a Supreme Court ruling in April 2025. Despite being protected from deportation by a U.S. immigration judge due to a credible fear of persecution in El Salvador, Garcia was sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, a notorious prison, due to an administrative error by the Trump administration. Abrego Garcia’s legal team filed a federal lawsuit against the government, asserting that his removal violated immigration law and seeking to have him returned to the United States. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the government must take steps to return Garcia. However, legal arguments presented by the administration claimed that the courts had no authority over foreign policy concerning Garcia's deportation. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rejected the administration's emergency appeal. Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her colleagues noted that the administration's argument—that it could not be held accountable for Garcia’s deportation because he was outside the country—was flawed. They insisted that the government was responsible for Garcia's unlawful deportation and must facilitate his return as mandated by the district court ruling. This landmark case may affect future deportation cases and highlights the legal conflicts arising from immigration policy during the Trump administration.