US judge orders return of second migrant from El Salvador prison

Alicia A. Caldwell, Bloomberg News on Apr 24, 2025

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A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Venezuelan man who was deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador — the second time the administration has been told to bring back a migrant it wrongly removed.

The man, identified only as Cristian, was 20 years old when he was deported despite a pending asylum case and protections under a class-action settlement for unaccompanied immigrant children, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher wrote in a ruling issued late Wednesday. Cristian, who came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor, wasn’t supposed to be deported until his asylum case was fully adjudicated, said Gallagher.

Gallagher, a Trump appointee, rejected the administration’s argument that Cristian’s alleged ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — designated a terrorist organization by U.S. officials — had justified his removal under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The previous class-action settlement made no exceptions for gang affiliation or national security, she said.

The ruling comes as a separate legal fight continues over the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national accused of MS-13 ties. While that case stems from different circumstances, Gallagher acknowledged that her latest order drops Cristian’s case “squarely in the procedural morass” surrounding the government’s broader deportations to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

The Supreme Court earlier this month ordered the U.S. to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return after the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged he was removed due to an administrative error.

Neither the Justice Department nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment.