By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-04-05 01:44:49 | Updated at 2025-04-05 09:11:11
7 hours ago
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to arrange for the return of a Maryland man to the United States after he was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison, while a US government lawyer was at a loss to explain what happened.
The ruling rejected the White House’s claim that it lacks the power to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, because he is no longer in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has corrected deportation errors in previous years, according to Abrego Garcia’s lawyer and legal experts.
The government filed an appeal immediately after the decision, while Trump administration officials repeated assertions that Abrego Garcia is a dangerous gang member and that US courts have no control over the matter.
“We are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement following the ruling by US District Judge Paula Xinis.
ICE expelled the 29-year-old Abrego Garcia last month despite an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling that shielded him from deportation to El Salvador, where he faced likely persecution by local gangs.
His mistaken deportation, described by the White House as an “administrative error,” has outraged many and raised concerns about expelling non-citizens who were granted permission to be in the US.
