The Trump administration has been ordered by a federal appeals court to proceed with the return of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador. The ruling rejects the administration’s attempt to block a lower court’s decision requiring his return.
The case centers around Ábrego García, a Salvadorian national who had been legally residing in Maryland. Although the U.S. government accused him of gang affiliation with MS-13, he has not been charged with any gang-related crimes. The administration has acknowledged that his deportation was the result of an administrative error but continues to resist court directives to bring him back.
In a unanimous decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ earlier orders outlining how the government must proceed to return Ábrego García. The court noted that the government was asserting an alarming power to remove residents from the country and imprison them abroad without due process, a principle that is fundamental to the U.S. legal system.
While the ruling recognized the authority of the Executive Branch under Article II of the Constitution, the court refused to interfere with what it described as a reasonable and constitutional implementation of the Supreme Court’s earlier directive by the district judge. The Trump administration, however, has continued to argue that the judiciary lacks the authority to compel specific actions by the executive branch in matters of diplomacy.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had asked for a pause in enforcement of the court’s return order, but the appeals court denied the request. The administration claimed that the Supreme Court’s instruction to “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return did not oblige the government to take concrete steps to bring him back unless El Salvador initiated the process. The appeals court disagreed, stating clearly that “facilitate” is an active verb, meaning the government must take action not merely wait for another country to make the first move.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has publicly stated that his government will not release Ábrego García, nor will it send him back to the United States. Despite this, the court emphasized that the U.S. government cannot hide behind foreign cooperation as an excuse to avoid fulfilling its constitutional obligations.
The administration’s legal team argued that the federal courts have no constitutional authority to compel the president or his officials to take specific diplomatic actions. According to their filing, the judiciary may only require the removal of domestic obstacles to an individual’s return, but it cannot mandate the executive branch to act on foreign soil or pressure another government.
This latest ruling is another blow to the administration’s efforts to assert broad discretionary authority over deportations under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act. It raises fresh questions about the limits of executive power and the role of the judiciary in upholding constitutional protections, particularly when the government admits its own error.