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Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Return Improperly Deported Migrant
A federal judge has mandated that the Trump administration must facilitate the return of a young man who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador, breaching a prior court order protecting him. The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Maryland appointee, who highlighted that the deportation of a Venezuelan national in his twenties violated a legally binding settlement agreement regarding the treatment of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.
This settlement, reached as part of a lawsuit settled last year, specified that the U.S. was not to deport migrants who had entered the country as unaccompanied minors until their asylum claims had been thoroughly evaluated. The individual, referred to as “Cristian” in legal documents, arrived in the U.S. as a minor and filed for asylum in December 2022, yet his claim was still under review when he was deported last month.
The situation gained public attention after being reported by ABC News, and it closely mirrors a previous high-profile case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, another individual who was deported to El Salvador despite an immigration court order prohibiting his removal. The Supreme Court deemed Garcia’s deportation “illegal” and upheld the district judge’s orders aimed at enabling his return to the U.S.
The Trump administration has previously resisted complying with requests to return Garcia, claiming restrictions on its authority, although they have stated that diplomatic conversations concerning his case were underway with El Salvadoran officials.
In her decision, Judge Gallagher cited Garcia’s case, reinforcing the idea that both Cristian and Garcia had been subjected to expedited deportation processes, with Cristian being part of a group of migrants sent back to El Salvador on March 15. Many in this group were allegedly removed under Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, a seldom-used 1798 statute that allows for the expulsion of foreigners deemed threats during wartime.
The administration argued that the invocation of this statute took precedence over the settlement agreement regarding Cristian, a claim Gallagher dismissed, asserting that deportations could not simply bypass established legal protections. She mandated that the Trump administration must take tangible steps to facilitate Cristian’s return and emphasized that inaction would not constitute proper compliance with the ruling.
Under the settlement negotiated by the Biden administration, which was designed to reform asylum policy changed during Trump’s tenure, protections extend to all migrants under 18 who entered the U.S. as unaccompanied minors.
While Cristian had a prior conviction for cocaine possession and faced deportation proceedings during the Biden administration, Garcia had no criminal record, adding complexity to their respective cases. The argument made by the Trump administration concerning the return of Garcia suggested a reluctance to actively seek his repatriation, instead interpreting legal terms in a limited manner.
Gallagher criticized this narrow interpretation, insisting that true facilitation involves proactivity, and instructed the administration to make a concerted request for Cristian’s release from Salvadoran custody.
In a related matter, Judge Paula Xinis, overseeing the Abrego Garcia case, has agreed to a brief pause in a detailed investigation into the Trump administration’s deportation practices, although the reasons for this delay remain undisclosed.
The administration continues to face scrutiny for its actions, including a recent acknowledgment that it had deported four individuals to El Salvador on March 31, contradicting a judge’s prohibition on such actions. Lawyers involved in the class-action lawsuit have raised concerns over the ambiguity surrounding Cristian’s deportation and demanded clarity on whether other individuals in similar situations have also been returned to El Salvador.
“If other Class Members have been removed to El Salvador, they too should be returned,” the attorneys contended.
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