The Trump administration received another defeat in court after their request to lift an order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from prison was rejected.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request on Thursday in a ruling that was described as “blistering” by some outlets.
‘While we fully respect the Executive’s robust assertion of its Article II powers, we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision.’
The U.S. Supreme Court had unanimously upheld an order from a lower court directing the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Garcia from the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. Garcia was deported to the prison by the Trump administration, which had claimed he was a member of the notorious MS-13 gang.
Government attorneys have admitted that he was deported on an “administrative error” because there had been an order to protect him from removal, but the administration has continued defending the action.
“The relief the government is requesting is both extraordinary and premature,” reads the unanimous ruling written by U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson. “While we fully respect the Executive’s robust assertion of its Article II powers, we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision.”
The judicial and executive branches appear to be in a standoff as the Trump administration claims they are unable to facilitate Garcia’s return but keeps losing in court. The president had told reporters that he would respect the Supreme Court’s orders on Friday, but members of the administration have since vehemently rejected the idea that Garcia would ever be returned to the U.S.
The ruling from the Fourth Circuit ended with a hope that the executive branch would decide to fend off an impending “crisis” between the branches.
“We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos,” wrote Wilkinson. “This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.”
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