Trump Refuses to Bring Back Those Wrongly Detained in El Salvador. You Could Be Next.

At any moment, the Supreme Court will issue a decision in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man whom the Trump administration admits it deported to a notorious Salvadoran mega prison due to “administrative error.” The ruling could pose a make or break moment, not just for the life of Abrego Garcia, but for what kind of country we are going to be. 

Less than three months into Trump’s second term, the stakes of litigation over its agenda are extremely high. If the Supreme Court requires the US government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s rapid return to US soil, it will have held the line by requiring that the rule of law governs Trump’s deportation powers. But if the court halts Abrego Garcia’s return, the United States is on track to enter a dark new chapter in which anyone—noncitizens and citizens alike—can be shipped off to foreign prisons with no hope of return. These are the tools of control exercised by authoritarian regimes on other continents. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen here.