Politics
Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin To Return Suspected Gang Member Who Was Deported To El Salvador
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump Administration to immediately seek the return of a suspected gang member who was deported to El Salvador last month.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been illegally deported to El Salvador’s supermax prison last month and must be returned by Monday. Xinis ruled that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation of Garcia on March violated the Administrative Procedures Act since it occurred without a judicial proceeding.
The U.S. Department of Justice responded Friday by stating that it plan’s to immediately appeal the judge’s ruling.
The Trump Administration has acknowledged that Garcia’s removal was an “administrative error,” but has also defended it by stating that the foreign national has ties to the ultra-violent MS-13 gang.
“This individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation’s immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Tuesday.
“And now MS-13 is a designated foreign terrorist organization. Foreign terrorists have no legal protections in the United States of America. And this administration is going to continue to deport foreign terrorists and illegal criminals from our nation’s interior,” she added.
Five years ago, an immigration judge ruled that Garcia could not be deported to his home country over fears that he will be targeted for retribution by Salvadoran gangs. His request for asylum was denied, but he was granted protection from deportation.
The Immigration Judge also found that Abrego-Garcia was a flight risk, noting his “history of failing to appear for proceedings pertaining to his traffic violations.” In addition, the judge reviewed the evidence and found that it “show[ed] he is a verified member of MS-13,” concluding that Abrego-Garcia did not demonstrate “that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others.”
“The American people should know who this individual is. He’s not some American father as the mainstream media will make you believe, he’s actually a member of MS-13, and was involved in trafficking. It’s unbelievable the framing of this. Whether this man is in El Salvador or in a U.S. detention center, he should be locked up,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News in response to the judge’s ruling.
Garcia, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested in an IKEA parking lot on March 12. He had been working as a sheet metal apprentice in Maryland over the last several years.
His lawyers have argued that the deportee had received a DHS-issued permit to work and have strongly denied that he had any gang affiliations. They further claim that the government has provided little evidence to back up its assertions.
It is unclear whether the Trump Administration intends to comply with the order, as Garcia has already been deported to El Salvador. “We suggest the judge contact President Nayib Bukele because we are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador,” Leavitt said when asked about the judge’s order.
Bukele — who has accused U.S. federal judges of judicial overreach to thwart the Trump Administration — reacted dismissively to the latest ruling.
