Judge Again Orders Trump Admin to Return Man Deported to El Salvador

A federal judge on April 6 denied the Trump administration’s motion to stay her April 4 order directing the return of an illegal immigrant who was deported to a prison in El Salvador. The White House had described the deportation of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia to that country as an “administrative error.”

“As defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador—let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” Xinis wrote. “Having confessed grievous error, the defendants now argue that this Court lacks the power to hear this case, and they lack the power to order Abrego Garcia’s return.”

Authorities arrested Abrego-Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national, in Maryland in March and deported him to El Salvador, although a 2019 ruling from an immigration judge shielded him from deportation to that country.

Homeland Security investigators have accused the man of being a leader of the notorious MS-13 transnational gang, recently designated a terrorist organization. His lawyers argue there is no evidence of such ties to the gang, and Xinis said the federal government has not provided evidence.

“Defendants have claimed—without any evidence—that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13 and then housed him among the chief rival gang, Barrio 18,” Xinis wrote. “Not to mention that Barrio 18 is the very gang whose years’ long persecution of Abrego Garcia resulted in his withholding from removal to El Salvador.”

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According to Abrego-Garcia’s attorneys, the evidence used to tie him to MS-13 were allegations from a Department of Homeland Security confidential informant.

On April 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause Xinis’s ruling, arguing that she lacks the authority to order the Trump administration to return Abrego-Garcia, particularly as he is no longer within U.S. custody.

“This Court should thus restore the constitutional balance, and correct the district court’s attempted usurpation of the Executive Branch. The order below represents an ‘unwarranted judicial interference in the conduct of foreign policy’ to the highest degree,” the DOJ wrote.

“It is an injunction to force a foreign sovereign to send back a foreign terrorist within three days’ time. That is no way to run a government. And it has no basis in American law.”

The appeals court gave Abrego-Garcia’s lawyers until the afternoon of April 6 to respond to the government’s filing.

On April 4, DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni said Abrego-Garcia should not have been deported and couldn’t tell Xinis under what authority the man was arrested in Maryland.

Reuveni was subsequently placed on leave by the Justice Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed.

“At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States,” Bondi said in a statement. “Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.”

On April 4, Xinis ruled that there was no legal justification to detain Abrego-Garcia and no legal basis for his deportation to El Salvador.

Homeland Security Investigations has deemed Abrego-Garcia an MS-13 leader and the White House reiterated that conclusion following the April 4 hearing. His attorneys argue there is no evidence of his ties to the gang.

His attorney said Abrego-Garcia had a permit to legally work in the United States, where he worked as a sheet metal apprentice while getting his journeyman license. Abrego-Garcia’s wife is a U.S. citizen.

Abrego-Garcia left El Salvador around 2011 and entered the United States illegally.

After immigration officers took him into custody in 2019, an administrative judge determined in that year that Abrego-Garcia was a member of MS-13 and denied his request for release, saying he posed a risk to the community. He was ordered deported later in 2019, but was also granted protection against removal to El Salvador because an immigration judge found Abrego-Garcia was likely to face danger if he were sent back to that country.

During the April 4 court hearing, Xinis noted that the immigration judge in 2019 did not find Abrego-Garcia was a member of MS-13 because no indictments had been issued against him and there was no other evidence proving his ties to the gang.

Justice Department lawyers said they have no control over Abrego-Garcia and no power to broker his return, “any more than they would have the power to follow a court order commanding them to ‘effectuate’ the end of the war in Ukraine, or a return of the hostages from Gaza.”

“Defendants seized Abrego Garcia without any lawful authority; held him in three separate domestic detention centers without legal basis; failed to present him to any immigration judge or officer; and forcibly transported him to El Salvador in direct contravention of the [Immigration and Nationality Act],” Xinis stated.

“Based on the foregoing, the Court retains jurisdiction to hear this case. Abrego Garcia has also demonstrated that he is entitled to the injunctive relief sought.”

Sam Dorman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.