The good thing is that at least this judge’s order comes with a definitive timeline.

Unfortunately, that’s the only piece of good news. There was no “or else”, and the Trump administration has already claimed they couldn’t follow the order even if they wanted to because he’s out of the reach of US authority.

Which means that most likely, Monday will come and go and this guy will still be in El Salvador. The judge will do a lot of hemming and hawing and follow standard judicial practices of threatening to hold hearings to discuss the possibility of holding hearings, and eventually the whole thing will quietly disappear from the headlines once a MAGA-aligned appeals court dismisses it due to the claimed lack of jurisdiction.

And we do have to be realistic. Bukele (President of El Salvador) has every reason in the world to cozy up to Trump. And he really could put an end to this saga by saying that Garcia is facing charges in El Salvador and will not be sent back to the US. There may be made-up charges, there may not. He could just say that Garcia is being charged just to run cover for Trump so Trump can say “I tried, but Bukele confirmed that he is an MS 13 member being tried in El Salvador and will not release him.”. And at that point, I honestly could see a judge dismissing the case simply because it’s moot and any order would be unenforceable.

Overall, I’m not liking the man’s chances.

With all of that being said, how has not one reporter asked the question of “If this type of ‘error’ were made involving a US citizen being sent to El Salvador, are you also saying that there is no way to get that US citizen back?”

That’s not how it works, though. He’s already been deported, and is in another countries custody. The US can lobby to get him back, but they can hardly demand it.

This US citizen has essentially been expatriated by ICE. I’m sure they forced him to sign documentation that he’s in some violent gang, as well. There’s no getting him back unless El Salvador decides to let him go.