The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court in an emergency request on Monday to stop a lower court from forcing the Trump administration to return a man it mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

The DOJ bypassed the appellate court in asking the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal judge in Maryland ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must “facilitate and effectuate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States by 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The DOJ argued that the administration has no authority over El Salvador and, therefore, cannot do anything about the error.

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“The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding,” newly confirmed Solicitor General John Sauer wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security has also alleged that Abrego Garcia, who entered the country illegally around 2012, is a member of the MS-13 gang. Court papers show that an informant reported to the DHS that Abrego Garcia was a member of the gang and that an immigration judge found the DHS’s informant reliable enough to keep Abrego Garcia in custody after he was detained in 2019 for living in the country illegally.

A separate immigration judge found later that year that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, had credible concerns that he would face persecution if he were deported back to El Salvador. The judge released Abrego Garcia from custody and barred the government from deporting him to the country.

Abrego Garcia has resided in Maryland and, outside of his detention in 2019, has worked in construction since entering the U.S., according to court documents. He has a wife who is a U.S. citizen and three children. His attorney told the court last week that Abrego Garcia has never been charged with or convicted of any crimes in any country and asserts that his client has no affiliation with MS-13.

Federal authorities abruptly arrested Abrego Garcia while he was driving home from work last month and deported him days later to CECOT, a notorious Salvadoran prison, during a controversial deportation operation on March 15 that is now facing a broader challenge in a separate case before the Supreme Court.

The Trump administration has admitted that deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was an error, but Sauer said it did not matter because Abrego Garcia is an “alien enemy.” Sauer argued that because Abrego Garcia is, according to the Trump administration, a member of a gang that is a designated terrorist organization, any protection he had from being deported to El Salvador is gone.

“While the United States concedes that removal to El Salvador was an administrative error … that does not license district courts to seize control over foreign relations, treat the Executive Branch as a subordinate diplomat, and demand that the United States let a member of a foreign terrorist organization into America tonight,” the solicitor general wrote.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney said his client had the right to appear before an immigration judge as part of standard removal proceedings but that the Trump administration ignored immigration law by extending him no due process and wildly alleging he was in a criminal gang without any evidence outside the word of the DHS’s informant.

“The U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation,” Abrego Garcia’s attorney wrote.

The request to the Supreme Court came ahead of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting the Trump administration’s request for a stay in the case on Monday afternoon. In its decision, a three-judge panel excoriated the administration for bypassing standard removal processes.

“The Government cannot be permitted to ignore the Fifth Amendment, deny due process of law, and remove anyone it wants, simply because it claims the victims of its lawlessness are members of a gang,” the three-judge panel wrote.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT MARYLAND MAN’S DEPORTATION TO SALVADORAN MEGAPRISON

The judges also blasted the DOJ for suspending one of its attorneys after he struggled to defend the Trump administration’s mistake during a hearing. The DOJ placed him on leave, citing his lack of “zealous advocacy” for his client, according to multiple reports that surfaced over the weekend.

“The duty of zealous representation is tempered by the duty of candor to the court, among other ethical obligations, and the duty to uphold the rule of law, particularly on the part of a Government attorney,” the panel wrote.