KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL. v. KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA, ET AL. ON APPLICATION TO VACATE INJUNCTION ENTERED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND [April 10, 2025]

 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

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No. 24A949

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KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF

HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL. v. KILMAR

ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA, ET AL. ON APPLICATION TO VACATE INJUNCTION ENTERED BY THE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF

MARYLAND

[April 10, 2025]

On March 15, 2025, the United States removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from the United States to El Salvador, where he is currently detained in the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT). The United States acknowledges edges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal. The United States represents that the removal to El Salvador was the

result of an “administrative error.” The United States alleges, however, that Abrego Garcia has been found to be a member of the gang MS–13, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and that his return to the United States would pose a threat to the public. Abrego Garcia responds that he is not a member of MS–13, and that he has lived safely in the United States with his family for a decade and

has never been charged with a crime.

On Friday, April 4, the United States District Court for

the District of Maryland entered an order directing the Government to “facilitate and effectuate the return of [Abrego Garcia] to the United States by no later than 11:59 PM on

Monday, April 7.” On the morning of April 7, the United States filed this application to vacate the District Court’s order. 

- THE CHIEF JUSTICE entered an administrative stay NOEM v. ABREGO GARCIA

Statement of SOTOMAYOR, J

and subsequently referred the application 

Dem immigration talking points fizzle as dark picture of Abrego Garcia emerges
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-immigration-narrative-backed-corner-violent-evidence-mounts-against-abrego-garcia

The directive, issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi March 14, provides the first public view of the specific implementation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act invoked to deport migrants accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

A day after that announcement, March 15, immigration officials apprehended and flew more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which has been criticized for its harsh and dangerous conditions.

It would be the first time in more than eight decades that the act was enacted. The last time it was used resulted in the internment of Japanese and German people during World War II, a chapter of U.S. history widely seen as problematic.

What is the Alien Enemies Act of 1798?

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, was established under President John Adams as the U.S. faced war with France.

The act was designed to allow the president to authorize the relocation, arrest or deportation of any man older than 14 years old who hailed from a country at war with the U.S.

Legal experts examined the document that reveals the following: 

• It provides directives to front-line officers apprehending suspected Tren de Aragua members, suggesting officers obtain a warrant of apprehension and removal “as much as practicable.” Those administrative warrants are signed by immigration officers, not judges like criminal warrants.
• Due to a “dynamic nature of law enforcement procedures” officers are free to "apprehend aliens" based on their “reasonable belief” they meet the definitions, the memo states.
• It purports to grant authority for police to enter a suspected "Alien Enemy’s residence" if “circumstances render it impracticable” to first obtain a warrant.