Has the U.S. reached a "constitutional crisis"?

Today, a federal judge reprimanded the Trump Administration over its failure to comply with a court order to facilitate the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. 

Abrego Garcia is a 29 year old Salvadoran citizen who is married to a U-S citizen and was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported despite being under court-ordered protection from being sent back to El Salvador. The Trump Administration blamed an “administrative error.”

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis called the administration’s actions “wholly illegal from the moment it happened.”

Her ruling was partially upheld in a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court, released on Thursday – which said the government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador. 

But so far, the Trump administration is not making moves to get him back.

In a court filing on Monday, a Department of Homeland Security official wrote, basically – it’s out of our hands: "DHS does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation." 

Yesterday, President Trump met with El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele.

At the meeting, both leaders said they would not act to release Abrego Garcia from prison.

So, is the Administration ignoring a ruling from the highest court in the land? And where does that leave our constitutional democracy?

Guest:

Eric Schnapper, professor of law at the University of Washington

Relevant Links:

WaPo: The deportation standoff sending the U.S. toward a constitutional crisis

 

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