John Roberts's Dangerous Game - The American Prospect

[justaprogressive]

The Supreme Court, in responding to the Trump administration’s request for an emergency stay of District Judge Paula Xinis’s order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison, resorted to double-talk. The 9-0 unsigned opinion, most likely written by Chief Justice John Roberts, nominally agreed with Judge Xinis, who wrote that “there were no legal grounds whatsoever for [Abrego Garcia’s] arrest, detention, or removal … Rather, his detention appears wholly lawless.”

But in remanding the case for further consideration, the Court included the magic words “The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

This is hogwash. The kidnapping of Abrego Garcia had nothing whatever to do with foreign affairs. El Salvador was simply willing to imprison him.

But predictably, at Monday’s Oval Office charade with President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller contended that “the Supreme Court said that the district court order was unlawful and its main components were reversed 9-0 unanimously.” That was a lie, but given the extensive wiggle room that the Court provided, it might as well have been true.

The Supreme Court also did not explicitly require Abrego Garcia’s return; changed the order that the government must “effectuate” the return to “facilitate”; failed to set any deadlines for action; and avoided a ruling on whether the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 can be used at all in the current circumstances.

https://prospect.org/justice/2025-04-16-john-roberts-dangerous-game-supreme-court-abrego-garcia/