In a sharp rebuke to the federal government, a federal judge has ordered the return of a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador, giving officials just days to correct their error.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legally residing Salvadoran national with a valid U.S. work permit, found himself swept up in a mass deportation last month. The flights were part of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to remove individuals suspected of gang ties—flights that included members of MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. But Abrego Garcia wasn’t supposed to be on any of them.
Now, the government has admitted he was deported “in error.” And yet, even with that admission, it argued it had no obligation—nor power—to return him. That argument didn’t fly with U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.
“They put him there, they can bring him back,” said one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, Andrew Rossman, in court.
Judge Xinis wasn’t having it either. After grilling federal lawyers, she issued a firm deadline: April 7. By then, Abrego Garcia must be back on U.S. soil.
The Justice Department, not surprisingly, has already filed an appeal. But their courtroom defense raised eyebrows—including their own. At one point, a government attorney admitted he had no satisfactory answer when asked why Abrego Garcia couldn’t be retrieved.
“The absence of evidence speaks for itself,” he said.
This case has become a flashpoint in the administration’s revived use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old law originally crafted for wartime threats. Trump invoked it last month to justify a mass expulsion of alleged gang members, sending planeloads of people to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia wasn’t supposed to be on any of those flights, especially given a 2019 court order that had shielded him from removal.
Still, he was picked up by ICE on March 12, questioned over alleged gang ties—which he denies—and then put on a deportation flight just days later.
His legal team, which now includes a high-profile law firm, says the government has made no effort to undo the mistake. His wife and five-year-old child, both U.S. citizens, remain in Maryland. She attended the hearing in person.
The White House, in response to the judge’s order, deflected—suggesting the court should take the matter up with El Salvador’s president, as if the U.S. bore no responsibility.
This case now joins a growing list of legal clashes over the administration’s high-stakes immigration strategy—one that courts are increasingly calling into question.
