The Supreme Court Says Trump Admin Does Not Have to Return Wrongly Deported Man by Tonight

The Supreme Court temporarily stayed a judge’s order requiring the administration to return Maryland resident Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison by 11:59 p.m. on April 7.

Supreme Court

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a last-minute reprieve on Monday, with Chief Justice John Roberts saying the U.S. does not need to immediately retrieve Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident who the administration mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

The high court issued a temporary stay in the case after the administration filed an emergency appeal of a lower court ruling that had mandated Abrego Garcia’s return by midnight.

Abrego Garcia became the center of controversy after the Trump administration admitted that it sent him to El Salvador’s infamous detention center by accident, after previous court rulings determined he could not be sent back to El Salvador because he could become the target of gang violence.