BALTIMORE — A federal judge's deadline to return an alleged undocumented gang member from a prison in his native country of El Salvador, continues to loom over the Trump Administration.
Kilmar Armando Abrego-Garcia was arrested in Baltimore on March 12 due to his suspected association with the violent MS-13 gang.
He was ultimately deported March 15 to a high security Salvadoran prison.
Abrego-Garcia's wife, a U.S. citizen whom he shares a child with, reportedly saw a photograph in the news of her husband entering the El Salvadoran prison, setting off a lawsuit.
Court documents show an immigration judge ordered Abrego-Garcia's removal from the U.S. back in 2019.
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He denied being in a gang, and claimed his life would be in danger if he were returned to El Salvador.
The federal government pushed back on those fears, writing in court documents Abrego-Garcia's reasoning had to do with his mother's well known "pupusa business."
At first the immigration judge also expressed skepticism, citing the number of years he waited to file for asylum.
Ultimately the judge ruled Abrego-Garcia shouldn't be deported back to El Salvador, but approved his removal to any other country.
The government has since conceded the move was in error, yet defended the decision to deport.
Maryland Federal District Court Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, on Friday gave the federal government until 11:59pm Monday to return Abrego-Garcia to the states, concluding his removal was unlawful.
The U.S. Department of Justice has balked at the order suggesting federal courts lack jurisdiction, considering Abrego-Garcia is now in the hands of another country's government.
After Xinis declined to put her ruling on hold, the government filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appellate panel has yet to rule.
