Judge tells White House to bring wrongfully deported Maryland man home

Apr 5

Drew Pittock Evening Digital Producer

By Drew Pittock (Evening Digital Producer)

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. after he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March. Prior to issuing her ruling, Judge Paula Xinis called the deportation “an illegal act.”
The White House maintains that Abrego Garcia is a dangerous gang member, though it hasn’t produced any evidence to support the claim, and that it is powerless to intervene now that the Maryland resident is in El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador in 2011 due to gang violence. He later married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, was granted protection from deportation, and was issued a work permit by DHS.

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The Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador due to an “administrative error” could be headed home, after a federal judge on Friday, April 4, ordered the Trump administration to bring him back to the U.S. The order comes after the White House claimed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous MS-13 gang member and that U.S. courts are powerless to intervene.

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Abrego Garcia, 29, was among those deported in March to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison under the auspices of the Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration has relied on the seldom-used act to expedite its deportations, saying that those who are being removed are allegedly tied to various gangs.

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In Abrego Garcia’s case, the administration is citing a 2019 claim by a confidential informant that the Maryland man belonged to the New York chapter of MS-13. However, Abrego Garcia never lived in New York. Likewise, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin cited “intelligence reports” that conclude Abrego Garcia is “involved in human trafficking,” though such evidence has not been produced for the courts. His attorneys also say there is no evidence he was in MS-13.

White House, DOJ at odds

In her ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis wrote, “The record reflects that Abrego Garcia was apprehended in Maryland without legal basis … and without further process or legal justification was removed to El Salvador.” She previously described the deportation as “an illegal act.”

Despite McLaughlin’s claims that Abrego Garcia is “involved in human trafficking,” Erez Reuveni, an attorney for the Justice Department, said that Abrego Garcia should not have been deported from the U.S., let alone sent to El Salvador.

“Why is he there, of all places?” Xinis asked Reuveni.

“I don’t know. That information has not been given to me,” Reuveni answered.

When pressed on other questions, including what authority led to Abrego Garcia’s arrest, Reuveni said he was “frustrated that I have no answers for you for a lot of these questions.”

In a statement addressing the Xinis’ order on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is “unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador.”

Reuveni, meanwhile, asked Xinis if that government could have 24 hours to broker Abrego Garcia’s return.

Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador around 2011 due to threats from local gangs. He was granted protection from U.S. deportation in 2019 and later married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen. The couple has one son, as well as two children from a previous relationship.

Abrego Garcia has been working as a sheet metal apprentice and pursuing a journeyman license, under a work permit issued by the Department of Homeland Security.