The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to appeal a court order directing it to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
“The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and member of MS-13. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process. If the government is is confident of its position, it should be assured that position will prevail in proceedings to terminate the withholding of removal order. Moreover, the government has conceded that Abrego Garcia was wrongly or ‘mistakenly’ deported. Why then should it not make what was wrong, right?” Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote Thursday.
Wilkinson is an appointee of President Ronald Reagan.
Abrego Garcia, 29, was a sheet metal worker who had lived in Maryland with his wife and three children until he was abruptly deported and sent to CECOT, a prison in El Salvador.
His attorneys have vehemently denied claims that he is a criminal. While living in the U.S., he has not been convicted of any crimes.
The Supreme Court recently ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return but prosecutors at the Justice Department and President Donald Trump have essentially stonewalled the courts.
U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis had ordered the Justice Department to provide more information about its efforts to return Abrego Garcia and prosecutors have insisted it is impossible to do so.
The appellate court’s ruling was unanimous: it would not “micromanage” her efforts, nor the Supreme Court’s instruction.
“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. 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. 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,” Wilkinson wrote.
He continued: “We yet cling to the hope that it is not naive to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.”
The appellate panel reached its decision rapidly; prosecutors at the Justice Department had only just filed their notice to appeal Xinis’ order late Wednesday. The administration argues that the courts are overstepping their authority and inserting themselves in foreign policy decisions they say should be the domain of the president.
The Trump administration can still appeal the 4th Circuit ruling, punting the matter right back to the Supreme Court.