Supreme Court orders Trump to return father who was accidentally deported to ‘world’s worst prison’ due to administrative error

U.S. Supreme Court Orders Return of Wrongfully Deported Immigrant

The United States Supreme Court has directed the federal government to facilitate the return of a man who was erroneously deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador due to an administrative oversight.

The deportation occurred amid efforts by former President Donald Trump’s administration to intensify actions against undocumented immigration. As part of these measures, over 250 individuals alleged to be involved in criminal activity have been deported to El Salvador’s Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a facility known for housing members of violent gangs, including MS-13, and individuals convicted of serious offenses.

The CECOT prison, often referred to as one of the most severe detention centers globally, has a capacity of over 40,000 inmates. Amid its notoriously dangerous population, one individual—later confirmed to be lawfully present in the U.S.—was mistakenly included among those deported.

The individual in question, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, is a Salvadoran national who had been granted protected status in 2019 by an immigration judge. This legal protection was intended to prevent his removal from the United States. Abrego Garcia had previously fled gang violence in El Salvador over a decade ago.

In mid-March, however, he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being mistakenly associated with gang involvement. According to a court declaration by Robert Cerna, Acting Field Office Director for ICE, Abrego Garcia was not originally listed for deportation. He was instead placed on standby and ultimately assigned to a removal flight after other individuals were withdrawn. The flight manifest failed to note his protected status, and he was deported based on a final order of removal and an erroneous belief regarding gang affiliation.

This removal, though acknowledged by ICE to have been made in good faith, was later admitted by the administration to be the result of a procedural error. Despite initial claims that his return was not possible due to his current detention in El Salvador, the Supreme Court intervened following a lower court’s ruling.

On April 10, the Court issued a unanimous 9-0 decision declining to stay the district court’s order, thereby affirming the requirement for the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. The order emphasizes that his immigration proceedings should resume as if the erroneous deportation had not occurred.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, counsel for Abrego Garcia, expressed support for the ruling, stating that the decision confirmed the primacy of the rule of law. “The Supreme Court upheld the district judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home,” he said.

The case has now been remanded to the trial court. Although no specific timeline was established for his return, the ruling mandates that the administration take appropriate steps to rectify the situation.