President Donald Trump's administration has dug in on its contention that the government should not have to repatriate Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite U.S. Supreme Court and lower court rulings that he was wrongly deported and should be returned to the United States.
For weeks, alternated between admitting Abrego Garcia 鈥 a who had been living in Maryland and is married to a U.S. citizen 鈥 was deported in error and arguing that the U.S. has no more power in the matter because he鈥檚 .
Here is a look at what judges, federal officials, the president and his lieutenants have said about Abrego Garcia's case.
A claim of MS-13 gang activity
SPRING 2019: During Trump's first administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains Abrego Garcia and, according to court records, asserts that an informant has identified him as 鈥渁 verified gang member.鈥 An immigration judge denies bond, saying Abrego Garcia is 鈥渃onfirmed to be a ranking member of the MS-13 gang by a proven and reliable source.鈥
The official Notice to Appear in immigration court, however, focuses only on the undisputed fact that Abrego Garcia previously crossed the U.S. border without legal status 鈥 he 鈥渨as not then admitted or paroled after inspection by an immigration officer,鈥 the notice says. Abrego Garcia and his attorneys deny gang affiliation; he's never been charged with a related crime.
FALL 2019: Another immigration judge grants Abrego Garcia protection from removal to El Salvador, affirming his contention that he would be endangered by local gangs. But the judge denies blanket asylum, noting that 鈥渨ithholding from removal, in contrast to asylum, confers only the right not to be deported to a particular country rather than the right to remain in the U.S.鈥 This point will become key to the Trump administration's arguments.
MARCH 12, 2025: According to court documents, ICE agents arrest Abrego Garcia, telling him his 鈥渋mmigration status has changed.鈥 He's later deported to El Salvador's .
MARCH 31: The Trump administration writes in a court filing that 鈥淚CE was aware of his protection from removal鈥 to his home country but Abrego Garcia 鈥渨as removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error.鈥
Comments on Abrego Garcia's whereabouts and status
APRIL 4: Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni says in court: 鈥淲e concede he should not have been removed to El Salvador.鈥 Pressed for a reason he is being held, Reuveni replies: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know.鈥
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis orders the government to The White House questions her power. 鈥淲e are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador,鈥 press secretary Karoline Leavitt says.
APRIL 5: The administration backs away from any admission of error. In an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court, Solicitor General John Sauer writes: 鈥淭he Executive鈥檚 assessment of the danger that Abrego Garcia poses to this country is entitled to substantial deference.鈥
APRIL 6: Attorney General Pam Bondi affirms on Fox News that Reuveni has been placed on leave from the Justice Department because of court statements.
鈥淗e shouldn鈥檛 have taken the case, he shouldn鈥檛 have argued it if that鈥檚 what he was going to do,鈥 Bondi says. She compares his exchanges in court to 鈥渁 defense attorney walking in, conceding something in a criminal matter鈥 about their client.
APRIL 11: The government tells Xinis it doesn't know . Drew Ensign, deputy assistant attorney general, says the administration is 鈥渁ctively considering what could be done鈥 in response to a Supreme Court order that it must work to bring him back. But Ensign says he has no personal knowledge of Abrego Garcia's status.
APRIL 12: For the first time, a U.S. government official confirms Abrego Garcia is alive and in the .
鈥淚t is my understand based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center,鈥 writes Michael G. Kozak, identifying himself in the document as senior official in the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. 鈥淗e is alive and secure in that facility.鈥
Kozak amplifies the administration's contention that the U.S. no longer has jurisdiction over Abrego Garcia: 鈥淗e is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador.鈥
APRIL 13: Evan Katz, of ICE, files a status update saying Abrego Garcia 鈥渟hould not have been removed to El Salvador.鈥 Still, Katz reintroduces the argument that 鈥淎brego Garcia is no longer eligible for withholding because of his membership in MS-13.鈥
Digging in at the Oval Office and beyond
APRIL 14: Multiple Trump officials speak on the matter in an appearance that includes El Salvador President .
Attorney General Pam Bondi puts the burden on El Salvador. 鈥淭hat's not up to us,鈥 she says, adding, 鈥淚f they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it. Meaning provide a plane.鈥
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller highlights as fact the allegation that Abrego Garcia is in MS-13. So, Miller reasons, Abrego Garcia 鈥渨as no longer eligible for any foreign immigration relief in the United States鈥 and was deported under a 鈥渧alid鈥 order.
Then, according to Miller, 鈥渁 district court judge tried to tell the administration that they had to kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here.鈥
Also at the White House, Miller swipes at Reuveni, the suspended lawyer: 鈥淣o one was mistakenly sent anywhere. The only mistake that was made is a lawyer put an incorrect line in a legal filing that鈥檚 since been relieved.鈥
Bukele declares it preposterous even to ask his intentions. 鈥淗ow can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I鈥檓 not going to do it,鈥 he says, adding he doesn't 鈥渉ave the power to return him.鈥
Later, the administration's daily status update echoes the White House rhetoric: Abrego Garcia is 鈥渋n the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation,鈥 writes Joseph Mazzara, acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. He is 鈥渘o longer eligible鈥 for U.S. court protection given that the administration has declared MS-13 a foreign terrorist organization, the update says.
APRIL 15: Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary, tells ABC News, 鈥淲e should explain to viewers watching why this clerical error occurred in the first place. It's because this MS-13 gang member was given protective orders because there were rival gangs in El Salvador that might go after him if he was sent there. So, he could have been sent to Egypt, Nicaragua, Honduras, you name it. He just couldn't go to El Salvador. So the bottom line, I think, it almost bolsters the government's case that this is a member of MS-13.鈥
Court calls the Trump administration's defiance 鈥渟hocking鈥
APRIL 17: A three-judge federal appellate court panel in a called the Trump administration鈥檚 claim that it can鈥檛 do anything to free Abrego Garcia 鈥渟hocking.鈥
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III writes that the judges 鈥渃ling to the hope that it is not na茂ve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos."
鈥淭his case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time," he wrote.
The panel says Trump's government is 鈥渁sserting 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.鈥
AT THE WHITE HOUSE: That day, asked by reporters whether he believed Abrego Garcia was entitled to due process, Trump said: 鈥淚 have to refer, again, to the lawyers.鈥
But he adds: 鈥淚 had heard that there were a lot of things about a certain gentleman 鈥 perhaps it was that gentleman 鈥 that would make that case be a case that鈥檚 easily winnable on appeal. So we鈥檒l just have to see.鈥
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Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed reporting.
