Judge rules the Trump administration violated a 2019 settlement in deporting a man to El Salvador
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge nominated by President Donald Trump ordered his administration to facilitate the return of a man who was deported to El Salvador last month despite having a pending asylum application.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland ruled Wednesday that the government violated a 2019 settlement agreement when it deported the 20-year-old man, a Venezuelan native identified only as Cristian in court papers.
Gallagher cited another federal judge’s order for the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland and was accidentally deported to his native El Salvador on March 15, the same day as Cristian.
Gallagher, who was nominated by Trump in 2019, said she recognizes that her ruling in Cristian’s favor “puts this case squarely into the procedural morass that has been playing out very publicly, across many levels of the federal judiciary,” in Abrego Garcia’s case.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportation-settlement-el-salvador-d0cf8dbc3c4a5c8dae70b47154e6a1ab