GREENBELT, Md. (AP) 鈥� 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 to a notorious , while a U.S. government attorney 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has corrected deportation errors in previous years, according to Abrego Garcia鈥檚 attorney 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 U.S. 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 U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.
ICE expelled the 29-year-old Abrego Garcia last month despite an immigration judge鈥檚 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 has outraged many and who were granted permission to be in the U.S.
鈥淭he record reflects that Abrego Garcia was apprehended in Maryland without legal basis ... and without further process or legal justification was removed to El Salvador,鈥� Xinis wrote in her order.
Before she issued the ruling, Xinis described the deportation as 鈥渁n illegal act鈥� and pressed Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni for answers, many of which he didn't have.
Reuveni conceded to Xinis that Abrego Garcia should not have been removed from the U.S. and shouldn鈥檛 have been sent to El Salvador. He couldn鈥檛 tell the judge upon what authority he was arrested in Maryland.
鈥淚鈥檓 also frustrated that I have no answers for you for a lot of these questions,鈥� he said.
The judge also questioned why Abrego Garcia was sent to the prison in El Salvador, which observers say is rife with human rights abuses.
鈥淲hy is he there, of all places?鈥� asked Xinis, who was nominated by President Barack Obama.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know,鈥� Reuveni replied. 鈥淭hat information has not been given to me.鈥�
Reuveni had asked the judge for more time 鈥� 24 hours 鈥� for the government to possibly broker Abrego Garcia's return.
Abrego Garcia's attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told the judge he was dismayed that the government had done nothing to get his client back, even after admitting its errors.
鈥淧lenty of tweets. Plenty of White House press conferences. But no actual steps taken with the government of El Salvador to make it right,鈥� he said.
Sandoval-Moshenberg said the government鈥檚 response to its error was essentially to say, 鈥淲e鈥檝e tried nothing, and we鈥檙e all out of options.鈥�
鈥淭his is not something that鈥檚 outside of the government鈥檚 power,鈥� he said, noting that the U.S. routinely extradites gang leaders, drug traffickers and other imprisoned people from other countries.
In legal briefs, Sandoval-Moshenberg asked the court to remove Abrego Garcia from the 鈥渢orture prison鈥� and 鈥渞eturn him to the custody of the United States.鈥�
The White House has cast Abrego Garcia as an and doubled down on that claim after Friday's hearing. Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, stated that the U.S. has 鈥渋ntelligence reports that he is involved in human trafficking.鈥�
McLaughlin did not comment on whether the administration would comply with the judge's order or when and where Abrego Garcia might be returned to the U.S. But she said that he would be 鈥渓ocked up and off America鈥檚 streets."
鈥淢S-13 gang members murder, rape, and maim for sport,鈥� she said. "It鈥檚 shameful that the mainstream media chooses to do the bidding of these vicious gangs while ignoring their victims.鈥�
Abrego Garcia鈥檚 attorneys have countered that there is no evidence he was in MS-13. The allegation is based on a confidential informant鈥檚 claim in 2019 that Abrego Garcia was a member of a chapter in New York, where he has never lived.
Abrego Garcia had a permit from DHS to legally work in the U.S., his attorney said. He served as a sheet metal apprentice and was pursuing his journeyman license.
He fled El Salvador around 2011 because he and his family were facing threats by local gangs. In 2019, a U.S. immigration judge granted him protection from deportation to El Salvador. He was released and ICE did not appeal the decision or try to deport him to another country.
Abrego Garcia later married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen. The couple are parents to their son and her two children from a previous relationship.
The judge鈥檚 ruling on Friday came shortly after Vasquez Sura joined dozens of supporters at a rally in the city of Hyattsville to urge her husband鈥檚 immediate return.
Vasquez Sura, who hasn't spoken to her husband since his deportation, urged her supporters to keep fighting for him 鈥渁nd all the Kilmars out there whose stories are still waiting to be heard.鈥�
鈥淭o all the wives, mothers, children who also face this cruel separation, I stand with you in this bond of pain,鈥� she said during the rally at a community center. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a journey that no one ever should ever have to suffer, a nightmare that feels endless.鈥�
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Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Rebecca Santana and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
Michael Kunzelman And Ben Finley, The Associated Press
