Trump Admin Must Facilitate Return Of Another Wrongfully Deported Man, Appeals Court Rules
For the second time in as many months, a federal appeals court declined to pause a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to 'facilitate' the return of a foreign national wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay a key portion of a lower court order out of Maryland that found a 20-year-old Venezuelan man was removed to the CECOT prison on March 15 under the Alien Enemies Act in violation of an existing 2024 court-approved settlement agreement which barred the removal of asylum seekers like him. The man is proceeding in the case under the pseudonym 'Cristian.'
Cristian's case is similar to that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, another wrongful deportation case out of Maryland in which the Trump administration has been ordered by the Supreme Court to facilitate the detainee's return but continues to defy the order.
Unlike Cristian, Abrego Garcia was not removed under the Alien Enemies Act, although his removal was on the same day that three planes flew detainees from Texas to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia's removal was in violation of a court order barring his removal, not a settlement agreement. Abrego Garcia is seeking a writ of habeas corpus whereas Cristian's case is a breach of contract claim.
In Cristian's case, U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher issued her order for the government to facilitate his return on April 23. The Trump administration appealed her ruling to the 4th Circuit and asked for it to block Gallagher's order while the appeal proceeded. The 4th Circuit issued an administrative stay on May 8, pausing the case while it considered the administration's request.
In deciding not to grant the Trump administration a stay on the portion of the order requiring it to facilitate Cristian's return, two of the three judges agreed but filed separate concurring opinions, not a single majority opinion.
'Nothing here is meant to pass judgement on whether Cristian is entitled to asylum—that question is beside the point,' Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, a Biden appointee, wrote in a concurring opinion with which Judge Roger Gregory joined. 'Rather, the Settlement Agreement guaranteed Cristian an adjudication of his asylum application on the merits—something his summary removal deprived him of.'
Gregory, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote a separate concurring opinion that strongly rebuffed the Trump administration: '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. 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.'
In dissent, Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee, called the lower court order in this case 'a more potent injunction than any other court has in the numerous Alien Enemies cases pending across the country':
At bottom, the district court imposed an injunction that exceeds its power. And it did so to remedy government action that did not breach the agreement—unlawful though it may have been in other ways. Because the injunction goes too far, and the government's success on the merits is therefore all but assured, I would grant a stay
With the Trump administration having successfully stonewalled the court order in the Abrego Garcia case for weeks, it's not clear that it will move with any greater alacrity in this case, especially since unlike Abrego Garcia, Cristian was removed under the Alien Enemies Act. At issue on appeal was Paragraph 2 of Judge Gallagher's April 23 order:
Defendants are hereby ORDERED to facilitate Class Member Cristian's return to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS under the terms of the Settlement Agreement. Facilitation includes, but is not limited to, a good faith request by Defendants to the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States.
The Trump administration may next ask the Supreme Court to intervene to pause the order while the case proceeds.
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