A federal judge has returned a Maryland man to the United States who was carelessly deported to El Salvador last month, despite a court order that allowed him to stay within the country until the end of Monday.
In a short ruling issued Friday, Judge Paula Sinis said last month that federal officials acted without “legal basis.”
The decision by Judge Sinis, who came during a hearing in U.S. District Court, was a sharp responsibility against the Trump administration. In court documents filed this week, administrative authorities said there was little they could do to get Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador, even after admitting that the March 15 deportation was a mistake.
The judge's decision allowed her to be on a conflict course with the White House. President Trump and some of his top aides repeatedly attacked other federal judges who questioned attempts to implement deportation policies.
Hours after Friday's hearing, the Justice Department said it intends to appeal the decision.
The case of Abrego Garcia, a Salvador immigrant whose wife and three children are US citizens, is the latest flashpoint in a multifaceted battle between immigration lawyers and the White House, using both traditional and extraordinary methods to intensify deportation.
The incident also highlights the Trump administration's efforts to accuse immigrants of being a member of violent street gangs as a way to accelerate removal from the country.
In a court application, the Justice Department accused 29-year-old Abrego Garcia of belonging to a cross-border gang with roots in El Salvador called the MS-13. However, Abrego Garcia denied them as the authorities provided limited evidence to support their claims.
During hearing Friday, Judge Sinis expressed skepticism about Abrego Garcia's relationship with MS-13, noting that there is little evidence that he belongs to the gang.
“In court, when someone is accused of membership in such a violent and predatory organization, it comes in the form of a prosecution, sue, criminal proceedings – a robust process, so we can deal with the facts,” Judge Sinis said. “I haven't heard that from the government yet.”
Outside the court, Jennifer Stefania Vazquez Sula and Abrego Garcia's wife celebrated the decision with a cheering crowd.
“We'll continue to fight for Kilmer for our husbands,” she said.
At the hearing, the Justice Department appeared to recognize the weak hands.
Erez Roubeni, the department's lawyer, admitted to the judge that Abrego Garcia should not be deported in the first place and told her that after landing at the desk, he was unhappy with the case.
Roubeni has begun the process of retrieving Abrego Garcia from a prison known as the Terrorist Confinement Center, seeking 24 hours to persuade his “client” Trump administration, in search of what appears to be a compromise.
“A good client is listening to lawyers,” Judge Sinis told him.
However, she ultimately rejected his request by imposing a deadline of 11:59pm on Monday to allow Abrego Garcia to be brought back to the United States.
Wendy Ramos, a spokesman for the President of El Salvador, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the government intended to hand over Abrego Garcia to US authorities.
Abrego Garcia came to the United States illegally in 2011, court documents are close to his brother in Maryland. He lived quietly and started a family with Sula. Until March 2019, he was taken into custody by local police while searching for accidental labor outside Home Depot.
The US immigration and customs enforcement agency quickly managed his case and began efforts to deport him based on accusations that he is a member of MS-13.
However, in October 2019, Abrego Garcia convinced an immigrant judge that if he returns to his hometown, he could face violence and even torture. The judge granted him a special status called “withholding from removal,” which allowed him to be deported.
Last month, nearly six years later, Abrego Garcia was stopped again by an immigration agent who mistakenly told him that his protected status had changed.
He was arrested and placed within three days on one of three flights to El Salvador, and the Trump administration hastily arranged using the alien enemy law, a rarely invoked 18th century wartime law.
The two planes were sent to El Salvador under wartime law authority, administrative authorities said. However, the third flight Abrego Garcia was traveling would have only transported immigrants with a formal removal order signed by a judge.
Simon Sandoval Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia's lawyer, told reporters after hearing Friday that he wanted to set a precedent in the case of other men deported to Salvadra prison by showing that the government has the ability to return them to the US.
Sandoval-Moshenberg added that he is grateful to Justice Department lawyer Reuveni for “accepting the seriousness of the case.” But he would be the fact that the Trump administration has not been cooperative so far to get his clients back.
“This was not a bad idea against Kilmer,” Sandoval Morshenberg said. “It was an evil of indifference whether they would deport the right people.”
Annie Coral Contributed with a report from Mexico City.
