HOUSTON, United States

The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration must work to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to an El Salvadoran prison, according to media reports.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported on March 15 along with hundreds of other alleged gang members believed to be part of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen living legally in the US, had an immigration court order from a previous case that prevented his deportation to El Salvador for fear of threats from local gangs.

The Trump administration requested an emergency appeal to extend the Monday midnight deadline that US District Judge Paula Xinis set ordering Abrego Garcia to be brought back to the United States immediately.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts postponed the deadline for several days, but the nation's highest court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration must comply with Xinis's order to have Abrego Garcia returned as soon as possible.

"The order properly requires the government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador," the nation's highest court wrote in its unsigned order.

The Trump administration admitted that they made an error in deporting Abrego Garcia but argued that they had no authority to bring him back because he was being held in a foreign country. The Supreme Court, however, said Abrego Garcia must be returned and that the order must be clarified to make sure it does not intrude into executive branch power overseeing foreign affairs.

The Trump administration claimed that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, but he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. Abrego Garcia's attorneys said there is no evidence their client was part of MS-13.

The Supreme Court's liberal justices said the administration should have worked quickly to correct "its egregious error" and was "plainly wrong" to suggest it could not bring him home.

"The government’s argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including US citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Xinis said Abrego Garcia's arrest and deportation was "wholly lawless" and his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, told reporters that the ordeal has been an emotional rollercoaster for their family.

"I am anxiously waiting for Kilmar to be here in my arms, and in our home putting our children to bed, knowing this nightmare is almost at its end. I will continue fighting until my husband is home," said Vasquez Sura.