Judge Rebukes DOJ For Refusing To Retrieve Man Mistakenly Deported

A federal judge rebuked the Trump administration for refusing to take steps to return a man wrongly deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador, saying that officials have offered “no evidence” he was a gang member and that the federal government has the authority to bring him back. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued a ruling on Sunday, two days after she ordered federal officials to arrange the release of Kilmar Abrego García, the husband of a U.S. citizen, by 11:59 p.m. Monday, reports the Washington Post. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to overturn the order. Xinis cited records and official statements that show the U.S. has the power to bring him back but has chosen not to exercise it. “This is not about Defendants’ inability to return Abrego García, but their lack of desire,” the judge wrote. The judge’s comments come as the Trump administration is attempting to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, while facing allegations and lawsuits that it is trampling immigrants’ rights and endangering them.

Under President Trump, officials have pursued international college students for demonstrating, threatened to deport hundreds of thousands of Venezueland and other immigrants, and reopened family detention. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials acknowledged that they mistakenly deported Abrego García on March 15 in a clandestine operation that sent 260 immigrants to El Salvador, in violation of an immigration judge’s ruling barring his removal because gang members in the Central American nation had threatened to kill him. Immigration officers he was deported because of an “administrative error.” Trump officials contend that they cannot bring him back because he is in Salvadoran custody, and seeking his release would endanger U.S. foreign policy. The administration appealed Xinis’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. DOJ lawyer Frez Reuveni told the judge he was also frustrated with the administration’s failure to answer his questions. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche put Reuveni, a veteran government lawyer, on administrative leave because he did not “vigorously” defend the government at the hearing.