A federal appeals court says it is "shocking" that The Trump administration claims it can't do anything to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday unanimously refused to suspend a judge's decision to order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her instruction to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote that he and his two colleagues "cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos."

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching federal judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of a judge who ruled against his deportation plans. "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," Roberts said in a rare statement. The flashpoint for the latest controversy was deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, which is being paid by the U.S. to imprison them.