The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday declined the Trump administration’s request to lift a judge’s order demanding it “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man in the United States illegally who was deported to a prison in El Salvador.
“The Justice Department appealed U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s clarified directive, which she issued last week after the Supreme Court upheld the thrust of her original order pushing for the man’s return,” reported The Hill.
The 4th Circuit declined to lift Xini’s order just one day after the Trump administration filed for the appeal. In the unanimous three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote that the appeal was “extraordinary and premature.”
“The relief the government is requesting is both extraordinary and premature. While we fully respect the Executive’s robust assertion of its Article II powers, we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision,” wrote Wilkinson.
Wilkinson, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, even argued that the Trump administration has asserted “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.”
“Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear,” added Wilkinson.
The Trump administration could seek an emergency relief order from the U.S. Supreme Court after receiving two rejections from the 4th Circuit in the Abrego Garcia case.
A 2019 immigration judge had ruled that Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador due to persecution risks. His lawyers called the deportation a “Kafka-esque mistake,” noting he faced no charges and had complied with U.S. immigration requirements.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt countered that the administration had “credible intelligence proving” Garcia “was involved in human trafficking” and that he allegedly was “a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang.”
“The administration maintains the position that this individual — who was deported to El Salvador, and will not be returning to our country — was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang. That is fact number one,” Leavitt said. “Fact number two, we also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking. And, fact number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang — which this president has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
Abrego Garcia and his family have denied he has ties to MS-13.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
