DOJ: Judge Can’t Order Return of Man Wrongfully Deported to El Salvador

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department argued in an appeals court on Saturday that a judge lacked the authority to order the Trump administration to arrange the return of a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador. Additionally, a government lawyer who admitted the error in court has been suspended.

The department requested that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halt the order issued by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, which mandated the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. by Monday night.

The Justice Department lawyers argued that “A court order compelling the Executive Branch to interact with a foreign government in a specific manner, especially one dictating action by a foreign power, is constitutionally unacceptable.”

The appeals court has requested a response from Abrego Garcia’s legal team by Sunday afternoon.

Abrego Garcia, 29, originally from El Salvador, was apprehended in Maryland and deported last month. This occurred despite a 2019 ruling by an immigration judge that protected him from deportation to El Salvador, where he faced potential persecution from local gangs.

The mistaken deportation, which the White House has called an “administrative error,” has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the deportation of non-citizens who had been granted permission to remain in the U.S.

During a court hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Friday, Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni admitted to Judge Xinis that Abrego Garcia should not have been removed from the U.S. or sent to El Salvador. Reuveni was unable to explain the grounds for Abrego Garcia’s arrest in Maryland.

He stated, “I am also frustrated that I cannot answer many of these questions for you.”

However, by Saturday, Reuveni had been placed on leave by the Justice Department, according to a department spokesperson. His name was absent from Saturday’s filing to the appeals court.

Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, “I require every Department of Justice attorney to advocate strongly for the United States. Any attorney who does not follow this directive will face consequences.”

Judge Xinis, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled on Friday that there was no legal basis for Abrego Garcia’s detention or his removal to El Salvador, where he is being held in a prison reportedly plagued by human rights abuses.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, stated that the government has taken no action to bring his client back, despite admitting its errors.

He told the judge on Friday, “There have been many tweets and White House press conferences, but no actual steps taken with the government of El Salvador to rectify the situation.”

The White House has described Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 gang member and has reiterated this claim since Friday’s hearing. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys maintain that there is no evidence to support his involvement with MS-13.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney stated that he had a permit from DHS allowing him to work legally in the U.S. He was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing his journeyman license, and his wife is a U.S. citizen.

Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador around 2011 due to threats from local gangs against him and his family. In 2019, a U.S. immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to El Salvador.

Government lawyers contend that they lack control over Abrego Garcia and the authority to arrange his return, stating that it is “no different than if they were ordered to ‘effectuate’ the end of the war in Ukraine or secure the return of hostages from Gaza.”

They further stated, “It is an injunction compelling a foreign sovereign to return a foreign terrorist within three days. This is not a sound way to govern, and it has no basis in American law.”

—Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.