The Trump administration has told a federal judge it is under no legal obligation to help return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in violation of a judicial order. Despite a Supreme Court directive to “facilitate” his return, the administration claims that does not mean taking any affirmative steps to extract him from foreign custody.

Abrego Garcia, who had lived legally in the United States with a valid work permit since 2019, was deported in March despite an active court order halting his removal. He had been granted protections after providing credible evidence of gang threats in El Salvador. After his deportation, Abrego Garcia was detained in a high-security prison by Salvadoran authorities.

The case has sparked outrage from legal observers and human rights advocates. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case, ordered daily updates from the administration on its efforts to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Yet the Department of Justice has responded by insisting that the executive branch cannot be compelled to act in foreign policy matters – even when its own agencies violate the law.

That position has drawn comparisons to past instances of executive overreach and contempt for judicial authority. Immigration and civil rights groups warn that the implications extend beyond this one case: If the courts cannot compel the executive to correct its own unlawful actions, even when a citizen’s freedom is at stake, what power does the judiciary really hold?

Abrego Garcia remains in detention. His family in Maryland has received no timeline, no assurances, and no contact. Advocacy organizations are calling for urgent congressional inquiry and international pressure.

For now, the regime appears determined to test the limits of legal accountability – and to leave a wrongly deported man behind in the process.