A federal appeals court has made a strong statement against the Trump Administration, rejecting its attempt to avoid following a court order. That order required government officials to testify under oath about why they ignored a previous ruling — one that had already been backed by the Supreme Court — telling them to help bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States.

Abrego Garcia is a man from El Salvador who was living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen wife and children. The government itself admitted it wrongly deported him to a dangerous prison in El Salvador based on unproven claims that he had gang ties.

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Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a well-known conservative judge, wrote the opinion. He didn’t hold back. He called the government’s behavior “shocking” and warned that this kind of defiance could lead to a real crisis if the rule of law isn’t respected.

The court said the government cannot just say, “Well, he’s gone now — nothing we can do.” The Supreme Court had clearly said the government must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. That means taking real steps to get him out of prison in El Salvador and bring him back to the U.S., as if the wrongful deportation had never happened.

The judge pushed back hard against the government’s narrow definition of the word facilitate. He made it clear: this doesn’t mean doing the bare minimum. It means taking action. And sending someone — by mistake — to a foreign prison the court had already deemed unsafe, and then ignoring the court’s instructions, is a serious violation of justice.

Judge Wilkinson also raised a serious concern: if the government can deport people without giving them a fair process and then refuse to fix its mistake, what’s to stop it from doing that to U.S. citizens in the future? Or from using that power against political opponents?

He reminded both the government and the public that in a democracy, courts and the executive branch must respect each other. If courts issue rulings, the government must follow them — even if it doesn’t agree. That’s how the legal system stays strong. He gave the example of President Eisenhower, who enforced a Supreme Court ruling to desegregate schools, even though it was controversial at the time, because he knew ignoring the courts would lead to chaos.

In closing, Wilkinson said this case is not just a legal battle — it’s an opportunity. The government can still do the right thing and show that it believes in the rule of law. Because if it doesn’t, both the justice system and the government itself will be weakened.

For all these reasons, the court denied the Trump Administration’s request to delay or cancel the lower court’s order.

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