The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily paused a federal judge’s ruling demanding that President Donald Trump’s administration return a mistakenly deported Maryland resident.

In the U.S. District Court of Maryland on Friday, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the Trump administration must facilitate Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. from El Salvador by 11:59 p.m. Monday. The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court earlier on Monday to halt Xinis’ ruling.

In an administrative order, Chief Justice John Roberts suspended Monday night’s deadline and requested a response from Abrego Garcia’s attorney by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Roberts’ order allows the Supreme Court to review the appeal.

Xinis reaffirmed her initial ruling on Sunday after the justice department appealed her decision in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

The appeals court upheld Xinis’ ruling on Monday and said the Trump administration’s argument that it cannot bring back Abrego Garcia and that federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to intervene is “unconscionable.”

[Federal judge reaffirms order to return wrongfully deported Maryland man]

“The United States Government has no legal authority to snatch a person who is lawfully present in the United States off the street and remove him from the country without due process,” the appeal ruling read.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Abrego Garcia last month due to an “administrative error,” the justice department said in a court filing.

In Monday’s emergency request to the Supreme Court, justice department officials said the order to return Abrego Garcia on Monday would be “unprecedented and indefensible” because the U.S. does not have the authority to facilitate his return from El Salvador.

“This order sets the United States up for failure,” the request read. “The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal
judge’s bidding.”

Abrego Garcia was arrested on March 12 and was later deported to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, which is “one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” according to Xinis’ ruling on Sunday.

Abrego Garcia was arrested in 2019 because of alleged ties to the international gang MS-13, the Associated Press reported. After the arrest, an immigration judge granted Abrego Garcia protection from deportation to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia faced a “clear possibility of persecution” if he returned to El Salvador, Xinis wrote in her ruling Sunday.

[Trump administration appeals judge’s order to return wrongfully deported Maryland man]

The Trump administration continued to claim that Abrego Garcia was an MS-13 member in its Supreme Court appeal on Monday and said he “presented a danger to the community.”

Abrego Garcia and his lawyers have repeatedly denied the claims, according to the Associated Press. Allegations against Abrego Garcia stemmed from a “singular unsubstantiated allegation,” Xinis wrote in her memo on Sunday.

According to the Associated Press, the claims tying Abrego Garcia to MS-13 stem from a confidential informant who said said that he was a member of the gang’s New York chapter. But Abrego Garcia never lived in New York, the Associated Press reported.

In a news release on Monday before Roberts’ order, CASA — an immigration advocacy organization — said it is “grateful” the appeals court upheld the ruling to return Abrego Garcia on Monday.

“This decision gives me hope, and even more encouragement to keep fighting,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, said in the news release. “My children, family, and I will continue praying and seeking justice.”