‘A Kafka-esque mistake’: Chief Justice Roberts hit with immediate response after siding with Trump DOJ in pausing return of wrongfully deported father

Chief Justice John Roberts has paused a Monday deadline for the Trump medication to return a protected Maryland nonmigratory who was mistakenly sent to El Salvador arsenic portion of President Donald Trump’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants back to the United States done a judge’s bid aft the Justice Department urged the U.S. Supreme Court to bash so.

Issuing an order connected Monday afternoon, Roberts temporarily halted a preliminary injunction successful which U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis gave the DOJ conscionable implicit 3 days to facilitate bringing Kilmar Abrego Garcia backmost to the country, referring to his deportation arsenic “an amerciable act” successful her order. The 29-year-old was sent to El Salvador connected March 15 successful mistake arsenic portion of Trump’s proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to unreserved done wide deportations, which person since been blocked by a national judge, without providing owed process to those being flown retired of the country.

Abrego Garcia was successful the U.S. with protected ineligible presumption astatine the clip of his deportation. His woman and 5-year-old kid are some U.S. citizens. The DOJ admitted to the little tribunal connected Friday that his deportation was an “administrative error,” starring to the suspension of a 15-year DOJ vet who made the nationalist confession.

Roberts said Monday that the midnight deadline acceptable by Xinis would beryllium enactment connected clasp until the Supreme Court tin travel to a decision connected whether to assistance the judge’s bid altogether.

“It is further ordered that a effect to the exertion beryllium filed connected oregon earlier Tuesday, April 8th, 2025, by 5 p.m.,” Roberts added.

Instead of waiting until Tuesday, though, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys chose to file their response specified moments aft the Supreme Court determination was handed down.

“This lawsuit is 1 of one,” wrote Abrego Garcia’s ineligible team. “It presents the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ of the Government conceding that it erred successful removing Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia ‘to a overseas state for which helium was not eligible for removal,'” the effect said. “The Government knew astir the tribunal bid prohibiting Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador, and admits that removing him successful usurpation of that bid was an ‘administrative error.’ Abrego Garcia has ne'er been charged with a crime, successful immoderate country. He is not wanted by the Government of El Salvador. He sits successful a overseas situation solely astatine the behest of the United States, arsenic the merchandise of a Kafka-esque mistake.”

More from Law&Crime: ‘Should not person been removed’: 15-year vet astatine Justice Department suspended aft admitting Trump wrongly deported begetter with protected ineligible status

With conscionable hours to spell earlier the Trump medication was acceptable to instrumentality Abrego Garcia, the DOJ tossed up its “Hail Mary” bid to the Supreme Court connected Monday greeting — asking it to enactment the kibosh connected the efforts — aft Xinis doubled down connected her bid Sunday.

In a 22-page opinion, Xinis said she would not backmost disconnected from forcing the Department of Homeland Security and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who are being sued by Abrego Garcia, to instrumentality him to U.S. soil. The DOJ filed an emergency question to stay Xinis’ preliminary injunction connected Saturday with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and little court, “given the urgency of harms to the government,” the DOJ filings said. The 4th Circuit denied the motion connected Monday soon earlier the DOJ filed its Supreme Court application.

In anterior arguments arsenic good arsenic the SCOTUS filing Monday, DOJ lawyers called Xinis’ bid “indefensible” and intolerable to transportation retired connected relationship of wherever he’s being held.

“The United States does not power the sovereign federation of El Salvador, nor tin it compel El Salvador to travel a national judge’s bidding,” wrote Solicitor General D. John Sauer successful the DOJ’s Supreme Court application to vacate the order.

“The Constitution vests the President with power implicit overseas negotiations truthful that the United States speaks with 1 voice, not truthful that the President’s cardinal Article II prerogatives tin springiness mode to district-court diplomacy,” Sauer said. “If this precedent stands, different territory courts could bid the United States to successfully negociate the instrumentality of different removed aliens anyplace successful the satellite by adjacent of business. Under that logic, territory courts would efficaciously person extraterritorial jurisdiction implicit the United States’ diplomatic relations with the full world.”

Xinis, a Barack Obama appointee, dismissed the DOJ’s assertion that the Trump medication had its hands tied with Abrego Garcia successful her Sunday filing. She said the U.S. can’t prop up the situation successful El Salvador arsenic “one of the tools” successful the government’s deportation shed — arsenic Xinis said Noem has antecedently claimed — and past effort to enactment similar thing tin beryllium done.

Xinis noted Sunday however the U.S. authorities and medication officials person repeatedly claimed “without immoderate evidence” that Abrego Garcia is simply a subordinate of the pack MS-13, which it continued to bash connected Monday successful the Supreme Court application. Even if that were true, Xinis pointed retired Sunday however helium was fixed ineligible extortion to unrecorded successful the United States due to the fact that helium wanted retired of El Salvador owed to the menace of retaliation and attacks from MS-13’s “chief rival gang,” identified by Xinis arsenic Barrio 18. She noted however the Trump medication was lodging Abrego Garcia with inmates belonging to Barrio 18.

“Abrego Garcia volition endure irreparably were helium not accorded his requested relief,” Xinis said. “The hazard of harm shocks the conscience. Defendants person forcibly enactment him successful a installation that intentionally mixes rival pack members without immoderate respect for protecting the detainees from harm astatine the hands of the gangs.”

More from Law&Crime: ‘Pretty sketchy looking’: Judge takes DOJ lawyer to the woodshed implicit Trump’s wide deportations and whether national tribunal orders are being ignored

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said Monday successful their effect to Roberts’ bid that they believed the authorities was improbable to win connected the merits of the case.

“Its exertion to this Court is built connected a bid of strawmen,” they said. “First, that ordering the Government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s instrumentality requires ‘compel[ling] El Salvador to travel a national judge’s bidding.’ Second, that the territory tribunal lacks jurisdiction implicit this lawsuit … based connected a ‘decision oregon enactment by the Attorney General to … execute removal orders against immoderate alien.’ And third, that complying with the bid requires letting ‘a subordinate of a overseas violent enactment into America tonight.’

“None of this is true,” the lawyers insisted.

To enactment their case, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers filed an amicus curiae brief with the 4th Circuit connected Sunday, showing enactment from “world-renowned scholars of law law” who accidental Abrego Garcia’s removal was “extreme” and legally unprecedented. “Not surprisingly, amici are not alert of immoderate precedent oregon recognized law rule supporting the government’s argument,” the connection of amicus curiae says, with it being filed by instrumentality professors Erwin Chemerinsky, Martha Minow and Laurence Tribe connected Sunday night.

“If this tribunal were to follow the government’s presumption here, it would dramatically grow the Executive Branch’s powerfulness astatine the disbursal of cardinal idiosyncratic liberties, and diminish some the Legislative Branch’s and the Judicial Branch’s powerfulness successful unprecedented and unsafe ways,” the trio concluded. “If the government’s statement were correct, the Executive Branch would person a shuddering grade of powerfulness — powerfulness that the President could wield successful utmost and bonzer ways, including against American citizens that the President simply disfavors.”

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Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.