Chief Justice John Roberts has agreed to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man, was deported to El Salvador on March 15 despite a protective order.

The chief justice, acting on his own, issued an “administrative stay,” a brief pause meant to give the court time to consider the matter. The justices are expected to act in the coming days.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was driving home with his young son in Maryland when he was stopped by agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Agents took Mr Garcia into custody, then shuttled him to detention facilities in Louisiana and Texas.

The court placed limits on how deportations may occur, emphasizing that judicial review is required. Detainees must be notified that they are subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act.

It takes no small amount of imagination to understand that this is a path of perfect lawlessness, one that courts cannot condone.” This is eloquent and correct, but this lawlessness is happening precisely because the nation’s highest court condoned it in advance.

A U.S. appeals court on Monday declined to lift an order blocking the Trump administration from sending people with final deportation orders to countries not cited in earlier proceedings without first letting them make a case for humanitarian protection.

The Supreme Court has blocked an order to return a man administration officials acknowledge was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.

The Trump administration argued that a federal judge couldn’t force the government to remedy the mistake.