It's called the "Laken Riley Act", and it allows for the deportation of people who have simply been "charged" with a criminal offense. They don't have to be tried or convicted...just officially accused.
To the current constitution-violating republican administration, none of this matters and the cruelty is part of it. That said, let's play a game:
what is the country of someone who grew up in the US, possibly speaking only English?
what happens if the country is inaccessible for some reason (countries occasionally collapse or close borders)
what happens if the borders of the country change and the person's hometown (or all their family) is now in country X instead of their country of birth Y
There are probably more weird edge cases that would need to be in any law as well.
Also, if someone claims asylum, international law explicitly forbids sending them back to their country (not that international law has any bearing whatsoever on this but y'know, add a layer on top)
I don't know what the US congress is any more, but in other countries it's because they really really want to expel someone and the deportee's home country might say "no thanks, they're your problem".
There's a lot wrong with sending everyone to El Salvador or Gitmo. But quite a few people who seek asylum are trying to escape a deadly situation in their own country. (Yes if they're trying for asylum they're not supposed to be deported without due process but that's not stopping the Reich.)
Unfortunately for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, he is from El Salvador and in 2019, an immigration judge granted him withholding of removal status due to the danger he faced from gang violence if he returned to El Salvador.
Right. That is why the Administration position on this has some merit which the courts need to defer to. As an El Salvadoran who is back in his home country, the US cannot compel his release. All the US can do is ask nicely.
But, they haven't even done that. Which is why the courts are so pissed. They know all this, and they know that all the administration has to do is prove they asked, in good faith. They won't even go that far. They did that performative thing where the El Salvadoran President said "We won't send him back since he's a criminal", but the courts in the US don't consider him a criminal.
There is no better definition of "contempt of court" then what the US is doing right now.
I know you're not defending the administration, but I wouldn't consider the administration's position to have any merit. They sent him to the prison and are paying for him to be imprisoned there. Giving them an inch of credibility on technicalities just means they'll continue to do what they're doing.
Mainly because the law is working as intended. Also because you would have to define what "their own country" is. Think of DACA recipients, who in many cases don't even speak the language of the place where they were born, have no cultural or family connections back there, is that "their own country" if the are more USian than anything? What tablet the opposite? naturalized Citizens who very much retain the cultural and heritage connections, at times even creating separate cultural enclaves.
It is almost as if "your own country" is a made up racist concept that gets wielded by power structures to keep people at each other's throats.
Because the cruelty of it is the entire point. People still like to imagine those in power have some sort of misguided moral compass or reasoning. They do not. They are pure, unadulterated evil.
Congress hasn't passed much of anything lately. They just let Trump do his executive orders. But even if they felt like doing anything at all, the GOP has control and can count on a few Dems to follow along.