Supreme Court Hands Down Ruling In MS-13 Deportation Case

On Monday evening, the Supreme Court intervened to prevent what the Trump administration described as an unprecedented judicial power grab by temporarily suspending a federal judge’s order that mandated the return of deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from a high-security prison in El Salvador. Chief Justice John Roberts issued an emergency administrative stay, granting the administration extra time to challenge the lower court’s decision, which required the Salvadoran national with confirmed gang affiliations to be returned to the United States by midnight on Monday, as reported by Axios.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s chief legal representative, submitted the appeal early on Monday, arguing that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had overstepped her authority and interfered with the president’s ability to manage foreign policy and national security. Central to the legal conflict is Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador who had previously been deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Justice has stated that he is “a verified member of MS-13,” referencing an immigration judge’s finding that a “past, proven, and reliable source of information” confirmed his gang ties.

Despite being granted withholding of removal to El Salvador in 2019, the Trump administration contended that this relief was rendered void after MS-13 was classified 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 presented to the Supreme Court by Sauer characterized the lower court’s injunction as “remarkable,” asserting that 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 timeline.”

“The Constitution assigns the President, not federal district courts, the responsibility for conducting foreign diplomacy and safeguarding the Nation against threats.”

This directive establishes the

The foundational order from Xin’s instructed the Trump administration to “facilitate and effectuate the return of Plaintiff Kilmer Armando Abrazo Garcia to the United States by no later than 11:59 PM on Monday, April 7, 2025.” However, the administration criticized the ruling as an unconstitutional encroachment on foreign policy, emphasizing that “district courts would essentially possess extraterritorial jurisdiction over the United States’ diplomatic relations globally” if this precedent were permitted to remain in effect.