Overview

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident and legal U.S. worker, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador on March 15, 2025, despite a 2019 court order protecting him from removal.
• The Trump administration admitted the deportation was an 'administrative error' but has argued it lacks jurisdiction to retrieve him from El Salvador's custody.
• Judge Paula Xinis ruled on April 4, 2025, that the deportation was illegal and ordered the administration to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. by April 7, citing irreparable harm.
• Abrego Garcia is currently detained in El Salvador's CECOT prison, known for human rights abuses, under allegations of MS-13 gang affiliation, which his attorneys and the judge say lack evidence.
• The case has intensified scrutiny of the administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act for deportations and its defiance of judicial protections for immigrants.