President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to block lower court rulings requiring that a man deported to El Salvador be returned to the US.
A federal judge in Maryland ordered the government to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back by Monday night. The order was upheld by an appeals court on Monday.
The government has said Mr Garcia was deported on 15 March due to an “administrative error”, although they also maintain he is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his family denies.
In their emergency appeal to America’s highest court, the administration argued the Maryland judge lacked authority to issue the order and that US officials cannot compel El Salvador to return Mr Garcia.
US Solicitor General D John Sauer wrote in his court filing: “The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding.”
He added: “The Constitution charges the president, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the nation against foreign terrorists, including by effectuating their removal.”
Mr Garcia had been in the US illegally, although a judge granted him protection from deportation in 2019.