Maryland judge orders return of Venezuelan asylum seeker deported to El Salvador

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker deported to El Salvador, ruling the removal violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims, according to an order issued Wednesday.

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker deported to El Salvador, ruling the removal violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims, according to an order issued Wednesday. The person deported was part of a class action case filed in 2019 on behalf of individuals who arrived in the US as unaccompanied minors and later sought asylum. A settlement in that case determined they could not be removed from the United States until their claims were fully adjudicated. US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who was nominated to the post by President Donald Trump, issued the order directing the government to work with Salvadoran authorities to return the man to the United States. The man is referred to only as “Cristian” in court filings. Gallagher also barred the removal of other individuals covered by the settlement agreement, which was finalized in November 2024. According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Cristian was removed on March 15 and sent to a prison in El Salvador. The judge’s ruling marks a second order directed to the Trump administration to secure the return of a man from El Salvador to the US and illustrates an increasing showdown between the administration and the federal judiciary over how much power courts have in resolving disputes concerning immigration. Citing the precedent of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the government admitted was wrongly deported, Gallagher wrote in her opinion: “Like Judge (Paula) Xinis in the Abrego Garcia matter, this Court will order Defendants to facilitate (Cristian’s) return to the United States so that he can receive the process he was entitled to under the parties’ binding Settlement Agreement.” Gallagher directed the government to make “a good faith request to the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to US custody for transport back to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS.” She characterized the deportation as a “breach of contract.”