CNN
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A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker deported to El Salvador, ruling the removal violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims, according to an order issued Wednesday.
The person deported was part of a class action case filed in 2019 on behalf of individuals who arrived in the US as unaccompanied minors and later sought asylum. A settlement in that case determined they could not be removed from the United States until their claims were fully adjudicated.
US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who was nominated to the post by President Donald Trump, issued the order directing the government to work with Salvadoran authorities to return the man to the United States. The man is referred to only as “Cristian” in court filings. Gallagher also barred the removal of other individuals covered by the settlement agreement, which was finalized in November 2024. According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Cristian was removed on March 15 and sent to a prison in El Salvador.
The judge’s ruling marks a second order directed to the Trump administration to secure the return of a man from El Salvador to the US and illustrates an increasing showdown between the administration and the federal judiciary over how much power courts have in resolving disputes concerning immigration.
Citing the precedent of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the government admitted was wrongly deported, Gallagher wrote in her opinion: “Like Judge (Paula) Xinis in the Abrego Garcia matter, this Court will order Defendants to facilitate (Cristian’s) return to the United States so that he can receive the process he was entitled to under the parties’ binding Settlement Agreement.”
Gallagher directed the government to make “a good faith request to the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to US custody for transport back to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS.” She characterized the deportation as a “breach of contract.”
The Trump administration, according to the order, has argued Cristian’s deportation did not violate the settlement, asserting “his designation as an alien enemy pursuant to the AEA results in him ceasing to be a member” of the class action. The government invoked the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century wartime authority, on March 15 to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan Trump accuses of “perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States.”
A sworn declaration from Robert Cerna, the ICE acting Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, said Cristian had been arrested in Texas in January.
“On January 6, 2025, (‘Cristian’) was convicted in the 482nd District Court at Harris County, Texas, for the offense of possession of cocaine,” Cerna stated in the filing. Cerna added that Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined Cristian was subject to removal following the invocation of the AEA.
Wednesday’s ruling to facilitate the return of Cristian puts into question the level of compliance from the Trump administration as it’s engulfed in another high-stakes immigration battle with the Abrego Garcia case.
The Trump administration has insisted that it is not required to work with officials in El Salvador to secure the return of Abrego Garcia, despite Xinis ordering the administration to “take all available steps to facilitate” his return and the Supreme Court requiring the administration to “facilitate” his return.
Xinis has stepped up her criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the wrongly deported man’s return in recent days. She accused officials on Tuesday of intentional noncompliance with their obligation to produce information and said the Trump administration is not acting in “good faith” as part of the expedited fact-finding process unfolding in the case.
The Trump administration has attempted to portray the Maryland man as a gang member with a violent history who they say is “never coming back” to the US. US. Abrego Garcia’s family and lawyers have denied he’s a gang member.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland flew to El Salvador last week to lobby for the release of his constituent. The Trump administration slammed the senator’s visit and criticize the media and Democrats for presenting what they described as an overly rosy picture of Abrego Garcia.
