US Court Orders Return of Another Deportee From El Salvador

The Trump administration was ordered by an appeals court to facilitate the return of a Venezuelan man who was deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador — at least the second time the administration has been told to bring back a migrant it wrongly removed.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals Monday refused to block a judge’s order seeking the return of a 20-year-old man deported despite a pending asylum case and protections under a class-action settlement for unaccompanied immigrant children.

President Donald Trump’s administration should facilitate the return of the man, who came to the US as an unaccompanied minor and wasn’t supposed to be deported until his asylum case was fully adjudicated, the panel ruled.

Read More: Supreme Court Extends Halt of Trump Venezuelan Deportations

US officials had said the man, referred to as Cristian, had ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — designated a terrorist organization by US officials — and so could be removed under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The US has previously invoked the law three times in its history, and only in cases of declared war.

But a district judge earlier ruled that the class-action settlement involving Cristian made no exceptions for gang affiliation or national security.

Judges DeAndrea Benjamin and Roger Gregory, both appointed by Democrats, agreed. In a concurring opinion, Gregory said that the government advanced the “unsupportable” position that the US could use the wartime law because Tren de Aragua is a proxy for the Venezuelan nation, which the administration argued engaged in an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” of the US.

“As is becoming far too common, we are confronted again with the efforts of the Executive Branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals,” Gregory wrote. “It is the duty of courts to stand as a bulwark against the political tides that seek to override constitutional protections and fundamental principles of law, even in the name of noble ends like public safety.”

On Friday, the Supreme Court extended an order that blocked the administration from using the wartime law to send about 176 alleged Venezuelan gang members to a notorious El Salvador prison. The court said the government hadn’t given them an adequate chance to challenge their deportations.

The administration has insisted it is unable to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man the administration acknowledged was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March. The Supreme Court told the government last month to try to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia.

At a recent hearing, US District Judge James Boasberg said he is weighing whether he has the power to order the Trump administration to seek the return of more than 100 Venezuelans declared alien enemies and sent on March 15 to El Salvador.

In the Cristian ruling, Judge Julius Richardson dissented, saying it is a contract case that does not dispute whether Trump properly invoked the Alien Enemies Act. He said that US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher improperly sought to involve herself in foreign affairs.

Richardson, a Trump appointee, wrote: “Cristian presents a contract claim, not a quarrel with the Alien Enemies proclamation. Yet in resolving the contract dispute, the district court entangled the judiciary in the roil of foreign affairs.”

The case is JOP v. United States Department of Homeland Security, 25-1519, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

To contact the reporter on this story:
David Voreacos in New York at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman, Peter Blumberg

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