A federal judge gave the Trump administration until the end of Monday to return to the United States a Maryland man who was inadvertently deported to El Salvador last month despite a court order allowing him stay in the country.
In a ruling from the bench on Friday, the judge, Paula Xinis, said that administration officials had acted without “legal basis” last month when they arrested the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, and put him on a plane — with no due process — to a notorious Salvadoran prison.
The decision by Judge Xinis, which came during a hearing in Federal District Court in Maryland, was a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration. In court papers filed this week, administration officials had said there was little they could do to get Mr. Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador, even after acknowledging that his deportation on March 15 had been a mistake.
The White House has not reacted to the judge’s ruling. President Trump and some of his top aides have repeatedly and aggressively attacked other federal judges who have questioned their attempts to carry out their deportation policies.
The case of Mr. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant whose wife and three children are U.S. citizens, has become the latest flashpoint in a multifront battle between immigration lawyers and the White House, which has been ramping up deportations using both traditional and highly unusual methods.
The case has also put a spotlight on efforts by the administration to use accusations that migrants are members of violent street gangs as a way to accelerate their removal from the country.
In court filings, the Justice Department has accused Mr. Abrego Garcia, 29, of belonging to a transnational gang with roots in El Salvador called MS-13. But officials have offered only limited evidence to support their claims, and Mr. Abrego Garcia has denied them.
During the hearing on Friday, Judge Xinis expressed skepticism about any ties Mr. Abrego Garcia has to MS-13, noting there was little proof that he belonged to the gang.
“In a court of law, when someone is accused of membership in such a violent and predatory organization, it comes in the form of an indictment, complaint, criminal proceeding — a robust process, so we can address the facts,” Judge Xinis said. “I haven’t yet heard that from the government.”
