US government says judge cannot order return of man sent to El Salvador prison

A prisoner stands handcuffed at the Terrorist Confinement Centre in Tecoluca, El Salvador (Salvador Melendez/AP)

The US Justice Department told an appeals court that a judge did not have the authority to order the Trump administration to broker the return of a man who was mistakenly sent to a notorious El Salvador prison, and it suspended a government lawyer who admitted in court that the deportation was an error.

The government’s lawyers asked the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals to pause a Friday ruling by US District Judge Paula Xinis, who ordered the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the US by late on Monday night.