A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to help expedite the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, nominated by Trump, issued an order on Wednesday claiming that the man’s removal breached a previous court settlement, Newsweek reported.
The court decision is the second time a judge has directed the Trump administration to aid the repatriation of an immigrant deported to El Salvador. It comes after the authorities removed more than 200 illegal immigrants in March, alleging they were gang members.
A class action lawsuit was launched in 2019 on behalf of immigrants who arrived in the United States as unaccompanied children. They sued the government to have their asylum claims heard while they were still in the country, and the parties settled in 2024.
However, the plaintiffs claim that Trump’s government violated the settlement agreement by deporting one of the migrants, identified as “Christian” in court filings, to El Salvador in March.
In the judgment he issued on Wednesday, Gallagher said: “Like Judge Xinis in the Abrego Garcia matter, this court will order Defendants to facilitate Christian’s return to the United States so that he can receive the process he was entitled to under the parties’ binding Settlement Agreement.”
He was one of three planeloads of accused gang members sent to the high-security CECOT jail.
Gallagher described the removal as a “breach of contract.”
The Trump administration argued that his deportation did not violate the settlement because “his designation as an alien enemy pursuant to the AEA [Alien Enemies Act] results in him ceasing to be a member.”
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official stated, according to a sworn declaration cited by ABC News, that Christian was arrested in January on a cocaine possession charge. “On January 6, 2025, [‘Christian’] was convicted in the 482nd District Court at Harris County, Texas for the offense of possession of cocaine, a Texas state jail felony,” said Robert Cerna, the acting field office director for enforcement and removal operations.
“Allegations that Class Members, like Cristian, are subject to the AEA do not exclude those individuals from the Class under the plain terms of the Settlement Agreement,” attorneys argued, according to ABC News.
It was also argued in court filings that Javier, an 18-year-old Venezuelan man, was at imminent risk of deportation earlier this month. Judge Gallagher ruled that Javier was protected under the settlement agreement and issued a temporary restraining order preventing the government from removing him from the United States.
Gallagher said: “At bottom, this case, unlike other cases involving the government’s removal of individuals under the Alien Enemies Act, is a contractual dispute because of the Settlement Agreement,” attorneys for the plaintiff said, referring to the 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process.
Cerna said: “On March 15, 2025, [“Christian”] was removed under the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. Ch. 3, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 10,903, as a Venezuelan citizen 14 years of age or older who is a member of TdA.”
Four House Democrats traveled to El Salvador on Monday to pressure President Nayib Bukele and the Trump administration to release Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland resident who was deported last month despite a federal court order barring his removal.
After being denied access to Ábrego García during their visit, the lawmakers escalated their demands, calling on the Trump administration to provide “daily proof of life,” ensure access to legal counsel, and facilitate his immediate release.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return to the United States, but stopped short of demanding that the Trump administration actually return the MS-13 suspect.
The White House has repeatedly argued that federal courts have no jurisdiction or authority to interfere with a president’s conduct of foreign policy or use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport members of gangs that President Trump has designated as terrorist groups.
