Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the 29-year-old Maryland father who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, continues to face difficulty in returning home. The Trump administration has not taken steps to return him to the U.S., despite court orders to do so. And El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has no plans to return him.
Last week the Supreme Court upheld a lower court order that the Trump administration should facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, although the court did not provide a deadline. On Monday, a federal judge denounced the administration’s refusal to comply and ordered Trump officials to testify under oath to investigate whether the administration is abiding by court orders.
The showdown between the federal government and the courts over the fate of Abrego Garcia raises serious concerns about whether the Trump administration will comply with future court orders. It also raises questions about the safety of immigrants who have a legal right to be in the United States. Abrego Garcia, an immigrant from El Salvador, was granted protection from deportation by a judge in 2019.
Annenberg Radio News interviewed Prof. Niels Frenzen, co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the Gould School of Law, about what this means for both U.S. citizens and immigrants with legal protections.
ARN: How unusual is it for somebody to be deported by mistake? Has this happened before? And what is supposed to happen when someone’s wrongfully deported?
Frenzen: I’m sure there have been instances of people being deported in error. In fact, I’ve represented a number of U.S. citizens over the past 30 years who’ve been deported by mistake -- because of the way our system works -- and people do not have rights to (government-appointed) lawyers in deportation proceedings. But talking about this guy, there’s no legal process there. He was abducted by the government on the street. There was no due process, no hearings, no lawyers, and he’s been transported by the U.S. government to a prison where he’s likely to die, if he’s not already dead. Mistakes happen, sure, but this is much more than than a mistake.
ARN: How unusual is it that the federal government seems unwilling to comply with court orders?
Frenzen: President Jackson pushed back on respecting a decision from the Supreme Court. But moving to the 20th century, this is unprecedented. This is a crisis, and people should be terrified. And I’m not talking about non-citizens, I’m talking about citizens as well. The Trump administration is basically taking control of operations, our system in the United States, and is clearly ignoring court orders.
ARN: You said before that, as of right now, there’s really nothing that legal immigrants can do except that pray that this doesn’t happen to them. But is there anything else that they should be worried about, and is there anything that they can do to protect themselves?
Frenzen: If the Trump administration chooses to act outside of the law (there’s) nothing we can do about it. Now, if the Trump administration is going to comply with the law when someone is arrested by an immigration agent, that person has rights under the Constitution and under the laws, and so what one should do in a situation like that is not waive your right to a hearing. Ask for a hearing in front of an immigration judge, ask for time to talk to a lawyer.
ARN: Lastly, this situation creates a kind of precarious situation for legal immigrants. But recently, Trump has been talking about “deporting” U.S. citizens who’ve committed a crime to be jailed in El Salvador. Isn’t this illegal? And should this be something that even U.S. citizens should be worried about?
Frenzen: This is something Justice (Sonia) Sotomayor, specifically, talked about in her dissent in the Alien Enemies Act decision that came down from the Supreme Court a few days ago... Sotomayor is sending a warning to U.S. citizens. So I’m belaboring this point, but it is a fallacy, it is an error to look at what has happened to this individual who was legally present in the United States as if it’s something that can only happen to immigrants.
ARN: Is there anything else that you think listeners should know about the situation or should be looking out for?
Frenzen: Looking out to see if the Trump administration bends and decides to bring this man back to the United States. A U.S. senator tried to see him in El Salvador today, and Salvadoran authorities prevented the U.S. senator from Maryland from seeing him. And so it is still an open question as to whether or not this man is dead or alive. But let’s see how that plays out.