The US Supreme Court has directed the Trump administration to bring back a man who was erroneously deported to a large prison in El Salvador due to a mistake.
Following Donald Trump’s initiative to combat illegal immigration in the US, over 250 purported criminals have been deported to El Salvador’s mega prison, CECOT.
This prison is known for housing Venezuelan gang members and mass murderers and has been labeled the ‘worst prison in the world’.
With a capacity for over 40,000 inmates, it’s not only vast but filled with dangerous individuals – and one innocent person.
The Trump administration has admitted to a mistake in deporting a Maryland father with protected legal status, mistakenly believing he was involved in gang activities.
Recently, the US administration stated it was unable to bring him back due to his detention in Salvadorian custody, but the Supreme Court has now issued an order.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was granted protected status by an immigration judge in 2019, which should have prevented the federal government from deporting him.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers stated he fled gang violence over a decade ago, but due to an administrative blunder, he was arrested by ICE in mid-March ‘due to his prominent role in MS-13,’ based on a court declaration.
Robert Cerna, an acting ICE field office director, detailed how the error might have happened in his statement.
He explained: “Abrego-Garcia was not on the initial manifest of the Title 8 flight to be removed to El Salvador. Rather, he was an alternate. As others were removed from the flight for various reasons, he moved up the list and was assigned to the flight.
“The manifest did not indicate that Abrego-Garcia should not be removed. Through administrative error, Abrego-Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador.
“This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13.”
Now that the Trump administration has recognized the deportation as an ‘administrative error’, the Supreme Court has supported a district court’s order to ‘facilitate and effectuate’ his return to the US.
On Thursday (April 10), the Court made a unanimous 9-0 decision to uphold the lower court’s order, requiring that Abrego Garcia be released from custody in El Salvador and ensuring his case is handled as if he had not been improperly deported.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s attorney, stated that ‘the rule of law prevailed’, adding: “The Supreme Court upheld the district judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home.”
The case will now proceed in the trial court as the justices did not specify a deadline for Abrego Garcia’s return to the US.