Trump administration contends it has no duty to return illegally deported man to US

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Politico

The Trump administration insisted Sunday that it has no legal obligation to arrange for the return of a Maryland man illegally deported from the United States, arguing that a Supreme Court ruling last week only requires officials to admit him into the country if he makes it back from a high-security prison in El Salvador.

Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge that they don’t interpret the Supreme Court’s Thursday ruling — that the administration “facilitate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release — as obligating the administration to do anything more than adjust his immigration status to admit him if El Salvador’s government chooses to release him.

With El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele set to meet President Donald Trump Monday, DOJ attorneys argued the courts have no power to require the administration to engage with the Salvadoran government to reach a diplomatic solution. They contend such a potential order would amount to a violation of the separation of powers and an intrusion into what they allege is unfettered presidential power to conduct foreign relations.

“All of those requested orders involve interactions with a foreign sovereign — and potential violations of that sovereignty,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in a seven-page submission to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis. “[A] federal court cannot compel the Executive Branch to engage in any mandated act of diplomacy or incursion upon the sovereignty of another nation.”

The administration’s position suggests officials do not view the Supreme Court’s order as compelling them to seek Abrego Garcia’s return. The Salvadoran native entered the country illegally around 2011 and had been living in Maryland. The Trump administration has admitted it deported him to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 immigration court order barring his deportation to that country. Though Abrego Garcia was denied asylum, a judge found he could not be sent to his home country because of a legitimate fear of persecution by a local gang.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/13/abrego-garcia-el-salvador-trump-administration-00288502

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Link to tweet

[Scrivener7]

1. The only way this reaction makes sense is if that guy is injured or dead, or the

Salvadorean government wants him injured or dead.

[OrangeJoe]

11. First domino to fall

They are doing this to establish the precedent that they can ignore the courts.

[Phoenix61]

2. Time to sharpen the pitchforks. Nt

[Lovie777]

3. Which is bull...............

[EarthAbides]

4. Call them LIARS!!!!

We have to start yelling in their fascists faces, "LIAR!!" "LIAR!!" Repeatedly. Over and over again. I am going to keep saying this until it starts happening! And, yes, I yell "LIAR!" at my TV all the time!

Please someone do it in person....

[usaf-vet]

22. Don't discount that this is part of their dragging their feet

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1322&pid=69426

[Bayard]

5. This is total bullshit

They KIDNAPPED this man! He is now basically being tortured in a hellish prison. I can't believe they would get a pass on this.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. SCotUS ruled 9-0. I bet tRump gets over-ruled again and "facilitate" is clarified to mean "every assistance"

If I understand correctly it is back in lower courts for status reports, etc. I think the lower court can and might give clarification that tRump regime won't like.

[OrangeJoe]

12. But they will ignore it

[Mrsfiddlegirl]

10. Agreed

Can the government must be charged with kidnapping?.

[OrangeJoe]

13. Nope, the president is immune to prosecution

[uncle ray]

15. the president did not board that man onto the plane.

[mdbl]

24. Very true. Following orders to defy the Constitution is against the law

So anyone that listens to Dump should be prosecuted if asked to break the law on his behalf.

[OrangeJoe]

35. Hopefully a whole boatload of those Quislings will get jailed.

[Volaris]

25. Hes NOT immune to civil damages, tho...

If by some miracle, guy makes it back here alive, he's gonna get to file the biggest civil rights lawsuit in history.

Just me...I don't think he's coming back here minus a bag.. can't be having him telling his story to the Press now, dontchaknow.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

34. Then his US citizen wife, who is still in country, should sue! Nt

[bluestarone]

6. THIS SC gave TSF exactly what they wanted. A word that anybvody could haggle over.

Just so they could use that loop hole. The SC could have made their order VERY CLEAR.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. Trump really wants to win this point of law for some reason

Contempt is what the rule of law has. They are not obeying. It's true the courts do not conduct foreign policy, but they do rule on it, and they have the tools for consequences.

[PSPS]

30. What tools? Trump himself said the supreme court "has no army."

I'm afraid that the only remedy is impeachment which is off the table. Since MAGA is 100% of the republican base, a primary challenger will, with trump's endorsement, always win especially in their gerrymandered house districts.

[NJCher]

33. SC has

US sheriffs. They should send the sheriff(s) to go get him.

[PSPS]

42. LOL. As if! The marshals are under the administration (trump) via Bondi.

[NJCher]

43. I'll check that out

There has to be a way.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. The Trump Administration is claiming they don't have to do anything to bring Abrego Garcia back to America,

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. 'Defiant screw you': Expert stunned as Trump admin 'thumbs its nose' at Supreme Court

I strongly disagree with the DOJ's position here. The DOJ is basically thumbing its nose at the trial court and the SCOTUS. I suspect that there will be a contempt motion started on Tuesday

https://bsky.app/profile/realtuckfrumper.bsky.social/post/3lmq7opfvnc2h

Link to tweet

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-defiant-supreme-court
Donald Trump's Department of Justice just "thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court," experts say.

The Trump Administration over the weekend filed multiple briefs in the case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador. A day earlier, the Trump Administration confirmed that the man is alive but didn't provide many details.

In the new filings, the Trump administration "says it has no updates" for Judge Xinis about the "efforts to facilitate" the return of the wrongly deported man, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney......

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at American Immigration Council, said, "The Trump administration thumbs its nose at the Supreme Court, saying that there is nothing the judge can do to order them to bring Mr. Abrego back."

"They also refuse to provide any information on the deal with Bukele, claiming it’s classified and maybe also a state secret," he added.

"Today's filings are a defiant 'screw you' to Judge Xinis. They say they can't 'facilitate' anything because Mr. Abrego is in Bukele's custody, they threaten to appeal any order she makes requiring further steps, and they refuse to tell her anything," Reichlin-Melnick said.

He continued:

"The Supreme Court held 9-0 that Judge Xinis’s 'order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador.' Her order was also upheld 3-0 by the 4th Circuit."

[republianmushroom]

16. More above the law ?

What are you going to do Judge ?

[tinrobot]

17. Educate me here - what exactly CAN the courts do?

Who exactly in the administration gets held in contempt/fined/put in jail?

And who enforces this decision?

Or is it that they just issue a stern warning?

[CitizenZero]

19. I Believe

I believe that the Court can hold the Administration in contempt. I am not sure who in the Administration would be subject to a contempt ruling. This can result in Fines and Civil Confinement. Normally the US Marshals Service enforces the decision, but they are under control of the Administration. It is my understanding that a Judge can deputize State Law Enforcement to enforce judgements such as contempt. I recently saw a video from a State AG on this subject. I am not a lawyer. I will look for the video.

[CitizenZero]

20. I Found the Video

It is at the link. The video is just over 4 minutes long, so it is a quick watch. It explains how court orders can be enforced.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/ag-phil-weiser-explains-how-court-orders-can-be-enforced-to-keep-the-trump-administration-in-check/vi-AA1CsKcV?t=228

[orangecrush]

18. A giant fuck you

To the rule of law.

[sakabatou]

21. Remember: cruelty is a feature, not a bug

[LoisB]

23. All I can do is shake my head.

[bee_peaceful]

26. That's not what SCOTUS ruled. NT

[33taw]

27. The court should subpoena the president of El Salvador

to come in and testify. Send the Court’s US Marshalls to get him.

[Irish_Dem]

28. If the SC orders me to do something, can I now tell them to F themselves?

[dobleremolque]

29. Call me naive, but I still believe what I was taught in 5th grade civics class, that

our system of justice is based on the idea that it is better to allow a criminal to go unpunished, than to permit an innocent person to be prosecuted and punished.

Today's lawyers and judges don't seek to see their work result in justice. They work for error-free administration of the statutes and rules of procedure, so they don't lose on appeal.

Occasionally, that results in "justice." But justice isn't anything American jurisprudence strives for, despite all the lofty mottos engraved in the marble.

[yourmovemonkey]

32. This right here is the truth

[WestMichRad]

31. F that!

So their argument is that they can (deliberately) screw up, and if the person is deported before the violation is caught, then they get a free pass and have no obligation to remediate.

Bet they can’t wait to do this with citizens, too.

[DFW]

36. This is refined cruelty

If the guy is still alive, the Trumpanzees know he gets returned at some point, at which time, they show their "humane" side, and "generously" allow him back in. He is so grateful, he'll participate in some completely contrived welcoming ceremony, where Trump or his lackeys try to score points when Kilmar kisses their hand in gratitude.

[0rganism]

37. So practically speaking there's no way back from these international torture prisons

Last edited Mon Apr 14, 2025, 05:31 AM - Edit history (1)

I hope the rich nazi motherfuckers get what's coming to them when people figure out their semi-legal foreign contract deportations are effectively a death sentence, or at least assumably-permanent exile with no external communication, and the F47 team can "deport" anyone it wants, regardless of charge or evidence. That's more-than-sufficient cause for a revolution, not to mention a trade embargo from 90% of the world.


(Imperial remote prison on Narkina 5, Andor S1E8-10)

[GiqueCee]

38. The way this is going...

... it would not surprise me if the disbarment proceedings for all the lawyers involved in these grotesquely illegal actions were to fill a goddam stadium. May they be sentenced to scrubbing toilets with their own toothbrushes.
These people are the worst of the worst. I've no doubt that Stephen Miller's slimy little fingers are in this somewhere.

[moonshinegnomie]

39. its time for the courts to stop wasting time

start locking up administration officials for contempt.
no excuses. send marshals to arrest them and lock them up until hes returned to the US.
work their way up to higher and higher officials up to the AG. lock them up in the worst prison they can.

[everyonematters]

40. They have a moral responsibility to get him back. Also the others where there are indications that they are completely

innocent.

[Paladin]

41. Hope all the Latinos who voted for trump are pleased with themselves. (nt)