By Joseph De Avila
The Trump administration deported a man to El Salvador in what it calls an administrative error and isn't able to bring him back, immigration officials said in court filings.
An immigration judge in 2019 ordered that Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia remain in the U.S., citing a credible fear he would be killed or tortured if he returned.
Immigration authorities were aware there was a court order prohibiting his deportation to El Salvador, said Robert Cerna, acting field office director for enforcement and removal operations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a court declaration Monday.
Last month, ICE agents arrested Abrego Garcia, alleging he was a member of the gang MS-13. Abrego Garcia, who lived in Maryland with his wife and child, both U.S. citizens, denies any gang affiliation. Abrego Garcia hasn't been charged or convicted of a crime.
After he was arrested, he was put in a staging area meant for people who were going to be deported and was placed in a manifest of passengers meant to be removed to El Salvador, said Cerna.
"This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia's purported membership in MS-13," Cerna said.
Abrego-Garcia is being held in El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, known as Cecot.
Abrego Garcia's lawyer said his client's deportation was carried out without legal authority.
"At the very least they were reckless if not intentional," Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
Sandoval-Moshenberg filed a motion in federal court in Maryland on Friday asking a judge to order the Trump administration to ask the government of El Salvador to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
The Trump administration responded Monday, saying the court didn't have the authority to carry out the order because he is no longer in U.S. custody.
Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2025 11:41 ET (15:41 GMT)
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