Appeals court rules against Trump in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case

• An appellate court panel unanimously ruled against the Trump administration’s request to reverse an order that they facilitate the return of Kilamar Abrego Garcia. Authorities mistakenly deported the Maryland man to his native El Salvador.

• The Justice Department initially called the man’s deportation an error, but it later released information tying him to the MS-13 gang. 

• The judges said Abrego Garcia was still owed due process even if he were affiliated with the gang.

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A federal appellate court unanimously rejected Thursday evening the Trump administration’s request to reverse an order saying they must bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Thursday evening, April 17. The government previously admitted it wrongly deported Abrego Garcia to a prison in El Salvador.

The three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit called the federal government’s request “extraordinary and premature” in its denial. 

“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all,” U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III said. “The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

The legal battle between Abrego Garcia’s family and the federal government goes on as he resides in El Salvador’s maximum security CECOT prison. 

What’s are the allegations against Abrego Garcia?

After the Justice Department initially stated that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was in error, it released information tying him to MS-13, an international crime gang that President Donald Trump designated a foreign terrorist organization. Maryland police officers identified Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang after a 2019 arrest, noting gang-symbolic clothing and a source identifying him as an active member.

This gang affiliation is the basis for Trump’s argument that his administration should be able to deport him without due process. 

The judges acknowledged these allegations but echoed the initial circuit court ruling by saying that Abrego Garcia wasn’t given his due process rights. 

“The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS-13. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process,” the ruling stated.

What have officials previously said about returning Abrego Garcia?

Trump said the earlier court ruling ordering Abrego Garcia’s return couldn’t be facilitated because he was on a plane over international waters en route to El Salvador at the time. In a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he couldn’t return the Maryland man. 

U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi said returning Abrego Garcia was now a decision for El Salvador to make, calling it a “foreign affairs” matter.

FCC chair on Abrego Garcia media coverage

Trump criticized media outlets’ coverage of Abrego Garcia’s deportation. On Wednesday, April 16, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr claimed Comcast-owned news stations, including NBC and MSNBC, misled the American public about Abrego Garcia. He said the outlets covered the man’s deportation closely until information came out showing he might have been less than a model citizen.

“Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public — implying that Abrego Garcia was merely a law-abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular ‘Maryland man,’” Carr wrote on X. “When the truth comes out, they ignore it.”