A federal judge has sharply criticized the Trump administration for deporting a man to El Salvador by mistake and failing to bring him back, calling the act a “grievous error” that “shocks the conscience.”
US District Judge Paula Xinis issued a scathing 22-page opinion on Sunday, ordering immigration officials to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States by Monday night. She said his removal was unlawful and executed without any legal basis.
Garcia, who had previously been granted protection from deportation by a US immigration judge in 2019, was nonetheless included among 261 individuals deported to El Salvador last month. The Trump administration alleged they were gang members, citing ties to the MS-13 criminal network.
Garcia’s legal team has vehemently denied any such affiliation. His lawyer noted that Garcia has no criminal charges against him, and his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura a US citizen has been publicly advocating for his return since his deportation in mid-March.
Despite admitting that Garcia was wrongfully deported, government officials claim they lack the authority to remove him from the Salvadoran prison where he is currently held the notorious Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (Cecot), known for housing alleged gang members under harsh conditions.
Judge Xinis rejected those claims, writing: “As defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere.”
The Department of Justice has asked an appeals court to throw out Xinis’ ruling, with a decision expected soon. However, Xinis countered that the government’s arguments “fail as a matter of law,” adding that the case reveals a concerning disregard for constitutional protections.
“Surely, Defendants do not mean to suggest that they have wholesale erased the substantive and procedural protections of federal immigration law in one fell swoop by dropping those individuals in Cecot without recourse,” she wrote.
Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the deportation in a Fox News interview on Sunday, reiterating that Garcia is affiliated with MS-13. However, she offered no evidence to support the claim. President Trump also commented on the case while flying from Florida to Washington, saying, “He’s in MS-13,” without naming Garcia.
Trump confirmed that El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele will soon visit the White House, where the two leaders are expected to discuss the possibility of the country jailing additional individuals deported from the US a plan Trump described as “something I’d be very happy with.”
The judge’s opinion followed the sudden removal of prosecutor Erez Reuvani, the Justice Department lawyer who had argued the case. Reuvani admitted during a Friday hearing that he was unaware of why Garcia had been sent to Cecot. Bondi later said he was pulled from the case for failing to defend the administration’s position vigorously enough.
