MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Supreme Court says the Trump administration must, quote, "facilitate" the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The high court mostly sided with a lower-court judge, despite an emergency appeal from the Trump administration. The justices sent the case back for clarification to that judge on just what the court can tell the president to do.
MARTIN: NPR's Joel Rose covers immigration, and he's with us now. Good morning, Joel.
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So if you would just remind us who the man is at the center of this case.
ROSE: His name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and he had been living in Maryland for over a decade. He had a form of protected status that should have prevented his deportation to El Salvador. In spite of that, ICE officers arrested Abrego Garcia last month and deported him to El Salvador, along with hundreds of other men that the Trump administration also accuses of being gang members. Abrego Garcia denies that. The government says he was deported to El Salvador because of an administrative error, but argued there is nothing it can do now because Abrego Garcia was already out of the U.S. A federal district judge rejected that argument. She ordered that he be brought back to Maryland quickly. But Chief Justice John Roberts put that order on hold while the Supreme Court could consider the case.
MARTIN: And what exactly did the Supreme Court decide last night?
ROSE: The court issued a brief, unsigned order. It's interesting to note that there were no dissents, although there was a statement from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the court's other two liberals, calling this an egregious violation of Abrego Garcia's rights. The court said that the government must now facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and handle his case as it would have been handled if he had not been improperly sent there. That part is a win for Abrego Garcia. But the justices also had some instructions for the district court judge. They told her to clarify the meaning of the word effectuate when she ordered the Trump administration to effectuate Abrego Garcia's return. The justices said the scope of that term is unclear and that it might exceed the lower court's authority when it comes to foreign policy.
MARTIN: So when do we expect that judge to act?
ROSE: She already has. Late last night, Judge Paula Xinis issued a new, revised order clarifying that the government needs to take, quote, "all steps to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia," unquote, to the U.S as soon as possible. Xinis wants to know his current physical location and status, what steps the government has taken to bring him back and what additional steps they are considering. And she's called a hearing for later today in Maryland, so Judge Xinis is not wasting any time.
MARTIN: Has the White House said anything about this? Have they had any comment?
ROSE: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller did post about the case on social media last night. He framed this as a rejection of the judge's order because the Supreme Court said that lower courts cannot dictate foreign policy. Miller claimed that it is El Salvador that is holding Abrego Garcia, not the U.S. government. So at this moment, it is not clear exactly when or if Abrego Garcia will be coming back to the U.S.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, there's another closely watched immigration case that's back in court today in Louisiana. So what can you tell us about that?
ROSE: Yeah. This is the case of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate student and lawful permanent resident who was arrested and detained by ICE last month because of his pro-Palestinian activism. Here the Trump administration has argued that Khalil has engaged in, quote, "antisemitic" and destructive protests, and for that, he should be stripped of his green card and deported. His lawyer says that's a violation of the First Amendment, and the immigration judge says she'll decide today whether there's enough evidence to deport him or not.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Joel Rose. Joel, thank you.
ROSE: You're welcome.
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