I mean, what Chief John Roberts did on Monday was really just buy a little bit of time for the full court to rule on whether Judge Xinis, this federal judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, has the ability to compel Secretary Noem to take steps to try to bring Abrego Garcia back. William, if we get a decision from the Supreme Court later this week where the court says, actually, yes, the federal courts really are powerless, that's obviously a huge win for the Trump administration, not just in Abrego Garcia's case, but with regard to the alien enemies, or at least the alleged alien enemies, who have already been removed to El Salvador. But, in contrast, if the Supreme Court comes back and says, even folks who have been removed are entitled to use our courts to make sure the U.S. didn't do anything wrong, if that's where this ends up, I think we're going to look at these rulings as actually a bigger loss for the Trump administration and a stronger defense for the rule of law than they might seem at first blush.
Author: William Brangham, Shrai Popat
Published at: 2025-04-08 22:30:29
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