This article originally appeared in The Dispatch on April 19, 2025.
A Salvadoran immigrant who had been granted protection from deportation suddenly found himself at the center of a contentious national debate when U.S. immigration authorities deported him to El Salvador last month. The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has since evolved into a high-stakes confrontation between the judicial and executive branches over whether courts can compel the government to return individuals who have been wrongfully deported.
In the most recent development, on April 17, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the U.S. government’s appeal of a Supreme Court order mandating that the government facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, stating that “the government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”
This latest ruling marks a critical turning point in Abrego Garcia’s case, which has evolved from a bureaucratic error resulting in his deportation to a saga capturing international attention, illustrating the twists and turns that usually play out behind the scenes in the normal course of due process.
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and why was he deported?
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is a 29-year-old Salvadoran migrant who lived in Maryland with his family after entering the U.S. seeking refuge after he and his family were repeatedly extorted and threatened by gangs in El Salvador.* After crossing into the U.S. illegally in 2012, Abrego Garcia was granted “withholding of removal” in 2019, meaning an immigration court barred his deportation to El Salvador due to what the court determined was a credible fear of persecution. This protection, a form of relief similar to asylum, meant that under U.S. law, he was not to be removed back to his home country.
Despite the existence of the court order protecting him, ICE detained Abrego Garcia on March 12 during a traffic stop and put him on a flight with other deportees to El Salvador on March 15. U.S. officials transferred him directly into a new Salvadoran “mega-prison” for alleged gang members. Although ICE acknowledged it made an “administrative error” in deporting Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has justified this measure on the grounds that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang, though his supporters deny this claim. The 4th Circuit ruling directly addressed this contested accusation, stating that even if the gang allegations turn out to be true, the government cannot circumvent legal protections by deporting first and presenting evidence later.