In a sharply worded rebuke, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has denounced the Department of Justice (DOJ) for its failure to correct the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Venezuelan immigrant who had been living in Maryland. The unanimous decision, issued on Monday, criticizes both the actions of the federal government and its treatment of a DOJ attorney who acknowledged shortcomings in court.
The ruling follows an incident over the weekend in which a Justice Department lawyer was placed on administrative leave after admitting he had never received a “satisfactory” explanation for why the government could not bring Garcia back to the United States. Garcia had been deported despite the government conceding it was a mistake to do so.
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Writing for the court, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan appointee, expressed deep concern about the implications of the government’s actions. “The government rightfully concedes that it was an ‘error’ and a ‘mistake’ to ignore this process,” Wilkinson stated. “And, if it is truly a mistake, one would also expect the government to do what it can to rectify it.
Most of us attempt to undo, to the extent that we can, the mistakes that we have made. But, to the best of my knowledge, the government has not made the attempt here.” Wilkinson went further, warning that the case reveals the possibility of a “disturbing loophole” in the legal system. He cautioned that the government could potentially send individuals to foreign prisons in violation of court orders and then use its executive powers to deny responsibility.
“It takes no small amount of imagination to understand that this is a path of perfect lawlessness, one that courts cannot condone,” he wrote. The court’s decision also sided against the Trump-era Justice Department’s effort to resist returning Garcia to the U.S. The ruling mandated that Garcia be returned by midnight on Monday, as reported by Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
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In a footnote, the court criticized the DOJ for penalizing the very attorney who spoke candidly about the situation. “Of note, in response to the candid responses by the Government attorney to the district court’s inquiry, that attorney has been put on administrative leave, ostensibly for lack of ‘zealous[] advocacy,’” the opinion noted, citing a CNN report.
The court’s ruling sends a clear message about the accountability of government actors—even in complex immigration and executive authority cases—and underscores the judiciary’s role in upholding the rule of law.
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