Republican Judge's Rebuke Shows 'Tide May Be Turning' Against Trump—Lawyer

Republican Judge Harvie Wilkinson's recent ruling—warning that the Trump administration's immigration actions in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia could "reduce the rule of law to lawlessness"—suggests the "tide may be turning" against the president, legal analyst and former U.S. assistant attorney Glenn Kirschner said.

Why It Matters

On Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected an effort by President Donald Trump's administration to appeal an order mandating that government officials be deposed about the deportation of Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia, who came to the U.S. illegally, was arrested in 2019 and accused of being a member of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Abrego Garcia denied being a member of the gang, but two judges, in separate rulings, concluded that he was, based on confidential information provided to the court. He was shielded from deportation to El Salvador because he said he would be targeted by MS-13's gangland rivals.

Abrego Garcia, who lived in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported to El Salvador after being arrested last month in what the Trump administration lawyers said was an "administrative error." His family denies any ties to gangs and Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the U.S., although his wife accused him of domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against him. They have since been reconciled.

He has been ordered to return to the United States by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, but the White House and El Salvador have pushed back.

A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court instructed the administration to "facilitate" Garcia's release and return, but the White House has resisted efforts. Liberal and conservative judges have ruled the administration broke the law in the deportation of Abrego Garcia.

Wilkinson, in Thursday's ruling, emphasized that "facilitate" is an "active verb," rejecting the administration's narrower interpretation. "It requires that steps be taken, as the Supreme Court has made perfectly clear," he wrote.

What To Know

"It feels like the tide may be turning," Kirschner, a vocalTrump critic, said in a Friday YouTube video posted on his channel, in light of Wilkinson's 7-page ruling. Wilkinson is a Republican appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

The administration is facing dozens of legal challenges over allegedly unlawful deportations, prolonged detentions, and due process violations tied to its immigration policies. Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history and has detained and deported thousands of people since taking office since late January.

However, Kirschner says the decision by the three-judge panel of the appeals court "basically say, you know we are not stupid, we see what you are doing," pointing to a section of the ruling that reads: "If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home?"

The White House has called Abrego Garcia's deportation an "administrative error," but maintained that the U.S. doesn't have jurisdiction over his return and that he is a gang member.

However, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals expressed some doubt on the matter, writing: "The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS-13. Perhaps, but perhaps not," noting that regardless, "he is still entitled to due process."

The judge added that the government had already admitted Abrego Garcia's deportation was "mistaken," and asked, "Why then should it not make what was wrong, right?"

The government's failure to rectify its error, the court said, risked reducing "the rule of law to lawlessness and tarnish the very values for which Americans of diverse views and persuasions have always stood."

Kirschner concluded his Friday video by saying, "This court opinion, is the rule of law at its finest," adding, "this is allegiance to the Constitution."

What People Are Saying

Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School and Fox News legal analyst told Newsweek in an email Saturday: "The White House would be wise to heed Judge Wilkinson's call for greater comity and respect between the judicial and executive branches. This is a respected conservative jurist who is appealing to our common article of faith in the Constitution. The holding was manifestly correct, but the dicta may be equally important in counseling greater restraint on both sides."

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said during a press conference Friday: "This is about bringing home a man they admit should've never been abducted."

President Donald Trump said during a news conference at the White House on Friday: "You're talking about Abrego Garcia—he is an illegal alien, MS-13 gang member, and foreign terrorist. This comes from the State Department and very legitimate sources, I assume. I'm just giving you what they handed to me, but this is supposed to be certified stuff."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday: "The Supreme Court made their ruling last night very clear that it's the administration's responsibility to facilitate the return, not to effectuate the return."

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the Oval Office on Monday: "First and foremost, he was illegally in our country, he had been illegally in our country...Right now, additional paperwork had needed to be done; that's up to El Salvador if they want to return him."

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in the Oval Office on Monday: "How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous."

What Happens Next?

Abrego Garcia has been moved from El Salvador's CECOT mega prison to a lower-security detention facility, according to Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who visited him this week. It is unclear what Abrego Garcia's fate of return is.

Early Saturday, the Supreme Court instructed the Trump administration to pause the deportation of a number of Venezuelans in custody under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law traditionally only applied in wartime.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court wrote: "The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court."