Timeline of Kilmar Abrego’s Case and Bukele’s refusal to send him back.

Updated April 14, 2025

On April 10, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of a lower court ordering the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. This comes after Abrego’s deportation to the Salvadorian prison known as CECOT and what the administration admitted to be an “administrative error”.

Let’s take a quick look at the timeline of events leading up to the Supreme court order.

Timeline of Events

On March 12, 2025, Abrego was stopped by ICE agents in his car with his 5 year old son. ICE agents contacted the child’s mother, telling her “she had ten minutes to pick up her son before he was turned over to child protective services.”

At the time, Abrego had a work permit in the U.S. and was still granted a withholding of removal, which forbade his removal to El Salvador.

On March 15, 2025, the Trump administration sent three planes with the deportees to El Salvador. This was done without a trial or hearing to determine the validity of a deportation or the validity of the claims to having MS-13 gang ties, violating the Fifth Amendment of the constitution which ensures that the federal government cannot deprive one of “life, liberty or property without due process of law.” This applies to non-citizens as well.

The plane holding Abrego was ordered to turn around by Judge Boesberg stating “You shall inform your clients of [the Order] immediately, and that any plane containing [members of the class] that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States”

Despite this order, the plane proceeded to land in El Salvador, leaving Abrego in the Salvadorian prison known as CECOT, while having never been convicted of any wrongdoing. The Trump administration admitted to his wrongful deportation, claiming it to be an “administrative error”.

On April 4, 2025, The United States District Court for the District of Maryland ordered the facilitation of his return and on April 10, 2025, the Supreme court unanimously upheld the lower courts decision.

On April 14, 2025, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele visted Trump in Washington, stating that the question to return Kilmar Abrego was “preposterous”. Bukele also stated that he does not have the power to send Abrego back nor the interest to do so. The U.S. and Salvadoran government have an extradition treaty which allows either government to send detainees to either country, as well as historical precedent of the Salvadoran government extraditing Salvadoran citizens to the U.S.