The Supreme Court intervened on Monday evening to block what the Trump administration dubbed an unprecedented judicial power grab by temporarily halting a federal judge’s order. That order had demanded the U.S. government return a deported MS-13 gang member, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia—a Salvadoran national with verified gang ties—from a high-security prison in El Salvador.
Chief Justice John Roberts granted an emergency administrative stay, providing the administration with crucial time to challenge the lower court’s ruling requiring that Abrego Garcia be returned to the United States by midnight Monday, according to Axios. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s lead legal representative, filed the appeal early Monday, accusing U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of exceeding her authority and interfering with the president’s power to manage foreign policy and national security.
Central to the legal dispute is Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an El Salvador native who was previously deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Justice describes him as “a verified member of MS-13,” referencing an immigration judge’s finding that confirmed his gang affiliation based on information from a “past, proven, and reliable source.” Although Abrego Garcia was granted withholding of removal to El Salvador in 2019, the Trump administration argued that this relief was nullified when MS-13 was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. Sauer emphasized that “members of MS-13 are no longer eligible for withholding of removal.”
The emergency application submitted to the Supreme Court by Sauer described the lower court’s injunction as “remarkable,” saying the ruling “requires the United States to persuade El Salvador to release Abrego Garcia—a native of El Salvador detained in El Salvador—on a judicially mandated clock.” She wrote: “The Constitution charges the President, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the Nation against foreign terrorists. This order sets the United States up for failure.”
