A federal appeals court on Thursday denied the Trump administration’s request for an stay and writ of mandamus in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national deported in March despite a standing immigration court order blocking his removal.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to halt a previous ruling by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, which ordered the government to take steps to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
The three-judge panel—comprised of Judge Harvie Wilkinson (appointed by President Reagan), Judge Robert King (Clinton), and Judge Stephanie Thacker (Obama)—issued the unanimous order.
In his opinion, Judge Wilkinson, the panel’s senior judge, sharply criticized the government’s position, writing that the U.S. cannot simply “stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process.” Notably, Wilkinson referred to Abrego Garcia as a “resident,” despite his status as an illegal immigrant with a 2019 deportation order issued by an immigration judge, citing alleged MS-13 gang affiliation.
Abrego Garcia is currently being held at CECOT, El Salvador’s maximum-security prison known for housing gang members. While the Trump administration maintains that his deportation was a mistake, they have also