Trump Administration Must Seek to Return Another Wrongly Deported Man, Judge Rules

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of another man who was sent to an El Salvador prison as part of the government’s push to swiftly remove alleged members of a Venezuelan gang.

The man, identified only as Cristian in court documents, was born in Venezuela and came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor. He and others who came to the country as children reached a settlement agreement with the government in November that prohibited their removal while their asylum applications were pending.

Nevertheless Cristian was among those sent to a Salvadoran prison by the administration in March.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher in Baltimore on Wednesday ruled that removing him without a chance to complete his asylum petition or challenge his deportation violated the settlement agreement. Cristian, and any other person who had been removed in violation of the settlement agreement, should be returned, she said.

The administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, bypassing normal immigration procedures, has resulted in fierce legal battles across the country.

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The government has argued in Cristian’s case that anyone designated as an “alien enemy” is ineligible for asylum protections, dissolving the terms of the settlement.

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