A federal judge issued a strongly worded ruling early Sunday, demanding that the Trump administration return a suspected MS-13 gang member, whom she stated was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last week.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee in Maryland, condemned the Trump administration for what she referred to as a “grievous error” that “shocks the conscience.” This followed the inadvertent deportation of a Salvadoran migrant to a notorious prison last month, after which the administration claimed it had limited ability to retrieve him.
Xinis issued a strongly worded order that served two primary purposes: it provided a detailed explanation of her brief ruling on Friday, which mandated that the White House return migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States by the end of Monday, and it rejected the Justice Department’s request to suspend the order while a federal appeals court reviewed its validity.
Spanning 22 pages, Xinis sharply criticized Trump officials for deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador on March 15, in direct violation of a previous court order that permitted him to remain in the U.S. Administration officials subsequently contended that neither they nor Xinis possessed the authority to retrieve him from the prison.
“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 to a 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.”
The Trump administration has continued to defend the deportation, even after admitting it was erroneous. On Sunday, Attorney General Pam Bondi asserted on Fox News that Abrego Garcia was a gang member, citing testimony from immigration agents. She also announced that the Justice Department attorney who initially handled the case has been suspended for failing to adequately defend the administration.
Erez Reuveni, the lawyer who was acting as the deputy director of the immigration litigation division within the department, was removed from his position for not adhering to a directive from his superiors, according to the New York Times. The publication further reported that Reuveni conveyed his frustration regarding the administration’s management of the case during court proceedings.
“Every attorney at the Department of Justice is mandated to vigorously advocate for the United States at my direction. Any attorney who does not comply with this directive will face repercussions,” Bondi stated in an official announcement.
The Justice Department has requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit temporarily halt Xinis’s order, which mandates the administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States by 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
“A judicial order that compels the Executive to interact with a foreign entity in a specific manner, or to enforce a particular action by a foreign sovereign, is constitutionally unacceptable,” government attorneys asserted. The appeals court has requested that Abrego Garcia’s legal representatives respond to the government’s submission by Sunday afternoon, as reported by the Associated Press.
Additionally, other analysts have noted that while Xinis asserts that Abrego Garcia was incorrectly identified as an MS-13 gang member, she also acknowledged in her ruling that there is a concern he may encounter persecution from rival gangs — two assertions that are contradictory. If he was never affiliated with the El Salvador-based gang, they contend, there should be no basis for fearing persecution from “rival gangs.”
The administration has also contended that MS-13 has been classified as a terrorist organization by the State Department, which is another aspect of the case that the Justice Department claims is outside the jurisdiction of a federal court.
