The United States Supreme Court on Monday temporarily paused a deadline that required the return of Kilmar Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month, CNN reports.
Chief Justice John Roberts granted the “administrative stay,” a move that will extend the deadline until the court hands down a more fulsome decision in the case of Garcia, who was deported on March 15.
The decision delays a ruling set for midnight, which was imposed by a lower court that had ordered his return to the United States.
Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was deported on March 15 due to an administrative error.
His attorneys argued that the US government must bring him back, as he was sent to El Salvador against legal orders.
The government concedes the deportation was “an administrative error” but claimed logistical issues prevent his return, citing his detention in El Salvador.
The Supreme Court’s brief stay does not specify a new deadline, but it signals swift action as the justices consider the case.
Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, expressed confidence that the court would address the issue promptly.
“This is just a temporary administrative stay. We have every confidence that the Supreme Court will resolve this matter as quickly as possible,” Sandoval-Moshenberg, said after the Supreme Court’s decision.
Garcia, a father of three, had been living in the US illegally but had been granted temporary relief from deportation after an immigration judge determined that a gang in El Salvador had threatened his life.
However, after a shift in US policy designating MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization, the Trump administration sought to remove him.
The Justice Department has raised constitutional concerns, arguing that federal courts should not dictate foreign diplomacy or the removal of individuals deemed a threat to national security.
In contrast, Garcia’s attorneys insist that he remains in El Salvador solely because of the US government’s error and that he should be allowed to return.
“There is no dispute that Abrego Garcia is only in El Salvador because the United States sent him there,” his attorneys told the Supreme Court.
“There is likewise no dispute that he is being held only because the United States has requested that he be held. And there is no evidence in the record of this case supporting the government’s contention that it cannot bring him back.”
A lower court had previously ruled that the government must return Abrego Garcia by Monday night.