The US Supreme Court has intervened to halt a wave of politically charged deportations, exposing what critics say is a coordinated assault on democratic norms by Donald Trump’s allies and foreign autocrats alike.
The ruling temporarily blocks the removal of Venezuelan migrants under an obscure wartime law from 1798—an emergency measure being cynically repurposed by the Trump administration to bypass basic due process. The case has thrown a harsh spotlight on the increasingly authoritarian character of US immigration policy under Trump’s leadership and the role of foreign governments like El Salvador in enabling that agenda.
At the centre of the firestorm is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran resident of Maryland, who was forcibly deported last month despite legal appeals still pending. Garcia is currently detained in El Salvador after being imprisoned in the country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison—a facility that has become a symbol of President Nayib Bukele’s strongman rule and widely condemned for its inhumane conditions.
Garcia, who has no criminal record and has been accused—without evidence—of gang affiliation by Trump officials, was denied the chance to challenge his deportation in court. His case has now become emblematic of what Democratic lawmakers are calling a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to undermine the rule of law.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, who travelled to El Salvador this week to meet Garcia, described the deportation as an “egregious violation” of constitutional protections. “This isn’t just about one man—it’s about the Trump administration asserting the power to disappear residents of this country, to stash them in foreign prisons, with no access to the courts, no due process, and no accountability,” Van Hollen said on his return to the US.
The senator’s visit itself became a flashpoint, with Salvadoran authorities initially blocking access to Garcia. When the meeting finally took place—at Van Hollen’s hotel rather than the detention centre—Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s media team staged a crude PR stunt. Images were later circulated showing Van Hollen and Garcia supposedly “sipping margaritas” in a tropical setting.
“It was pure propaganda,” Van Hollen said. “They placed untouched drinks on the table to create a false narrative. It shows just how far Bukele’s government is willing to go to deceive the public—and how willing the Trump camp is to play along.”
Bukele, who has drawn international condemnation for his erosion of civil liberties and the militarisation of his government, posted the photos mockingly, claiming Garcia had “miraculously risen” from “death camps”. The move was widely viewed as an effort to discredit criticism of his prison system and distract from the abuse Garcia described: being held in brutal conditions and subjected to psychological trauma.
The Supreme Court’s ruling serves as a temporary reprieve, but Van Hollen and other Democrats warn that a more permanent threat to democracy is taking root. “We’re facing an administration that is using authoritarian tactics, both at home and abroad, to silence dissent and bypass the judiciary,” the senator said.
The Trump administration has so far refused to facilitate Garcia’s return, defying court guidance. The deportation of Garcia is part of a broader sweep that has seen over 130 migrants forcibly removed—many accused without trial or evidence of being members of violent gangs like Tren de Aragua or MS-13.
The ACLU, which filed the emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, said the government’s actions amount to “mass removals without hearings, without facts, and without justice.”
Critics argue that this strategy—framing undocumented migrants as criminals and then partnering with autocratic regimes to remove them quietly—constitutes a calculated erosion of civil rights. “This is not immigration policy,” said one civil liberties expert. “This is authoritarianism, plain and simple.”
The case of Kilmar Garcia may well become a bellwether. At stake is not just the fate of one man but the future of American democracy itself.
