(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has asked a federal judge in Maryland to reschedule a hearing set for Friday in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in error.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis scheduled the hearing after the U.S. Supreme late Thursday affirmed her earlier ruling ordering the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States after he was mistakenly sent to an El Salvador prison last month.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice requested that Friday’s hearing to be rescheduled for Wednesday, April 16. That date is two days after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is scheduled to meet with the White House.
The hearing is currently scheduled tor 1 p.m. ET Friday.
Judge Xinis had also ordered the Trump administration to file, by Friday morning, a supplemental declaration from an individual with personal knowledge acknowledging the current physical location of Abrego Garcia and what steps the administration will take to facilitate his immediate return.
Attorneys for DOJ requested the deadline for the supplemental declaration be moved to next week.
The Supreme Court on Thursday largely upheld an earlier order issued by the lower-court judge ordering the Trump administration to take steps to return the man.
“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the Supreme Court’s unsigned order stated.
Abrego Garcia — despite having protected legal status preventing his deportation to El Salvador, where his attorneys say he escaped political violence in 2011 — was sent to that country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an “administrative error.”
The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and his wife deny, and argued in legal filings that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order him to be returned to the U.S. nor order El Salvador to return him.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration has emphasized its role in carrying out foreign policy, which was also cited in the high court’s order.
The Supreme Court said the lower-court judge should “clarify” her earlier order “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”
In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said: “As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs. By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.”
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, the attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News that “the rule of law prevailed.”
“The Supreme Court upheld the District Judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “Now they need to stop wasting time and get moving.”
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.
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