Data: Axios research; Chart: Axios Visuals

The fate of a Maryland man erroneously deported to El Salvador remains in flux amid a legal battle between the government and the courts.

The big picture: In a test of the powers of the executive and judicial branches, the Trump administration has so far refused to comply with a Supreme Court order requiring it to facilitate Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s return from a high-security prison for terrorists in El Salvador.

Context: The government accused Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national legally living in Maryland, of being a member of MS-13, even though he has not been charged with any gang-related crimes.

• He was detained by immigration officials and mistakenly deported, despite a court order that he remain in the U.S. due to a likelihood of harm in El Salvador.
• Justice Department attorneys previously conceded that he was removed to El Salvador because of an “administrative error.”

April 14

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he can’t return Abrego Garcia, to the U.S., nor will he release him within El Salvador.

• “The question is preposterous,” Bukele said during a press conference with President Trump. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

April 13

Justice Department attorneys said in a court filing, “The federal courts have no authority to direct the executive branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner.”

• They added, “That is the ‘exclusive power of the president as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.”

April 12

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in a Saturday court filing highlighted President Trump’s comments a day earlier that he would “bring somebody back” if directed to by the Supreme Court.

• The lawyers characterized the president’s statement as an acknowledgment that the U.S. “has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from prison and return to the United States” in a motion to the judge overseeing the case.
• Despite the president’s acknowledgment, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys argued, “the Department of Justice and other Government agencies continue to resist this Court and the Supreme Court.”

April 11

A federal judge demanded the government provide daily updates in Abrego Garcia’s case.

• U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said as part of the updates, the government must share information on Abrego Garcia’s location plus steps it has already taken to return him to the U.S. and steps it will be taking moving forward.

April 10

The Supreme Court ruled in an unsigned order with no dissenting votes that the Trump administration must take steps to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador.

• The high court also said the government must ensure his case is “handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

April 7

The Supreme Court temporarily paused a federal judge’s midnight deadline to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. while the justices weighed the case.

• The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier the same day refused to block Xinis’ order.

April 4

Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison to the U.S. by midnight on April 7.

March 31

The Department of Justice admitted in court papers filed March 31 that the Salvadorian national living in Maryland legally was wrongly deported to El Salvador.

March 15

“On March 15, although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” Justice Department attorneys said in a filing.

March 12

Abrego Garcia was stopped by immigration agents who wrongly told him that his status had changed, court documents show.

• He had “withholding from removal” status, which means he was allowed to stay in the U.S. because of the likelihood that he’d face harm in El Salvador.
• Abrego Garcia was questioned about gang affiliation and then transferred to a Texas detention center.

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