Second MD Man Wrongfully Deported To El Salvador

MARYLAND — As the state awaits the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to an El Salvador prison in March, court records show a second Maryland man was erroneously deported by the Trump administration last month.

Maryland U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher this week ruled that federal officials deported a 20-year-old Venezuelan man in violation of a court-approved settlement agreement reached last year as a result of a class-action lawsuit, according to a filing published by the Baltimore Banner.

In the filing, the judge identified the man only by his first name, Cristian. According to court documents, Cristian, a 20-year-old from Venezuela with a pending asylum application, was deported on March 15 and sent to El Salvador.

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The judge wrote that his removal from the country violated the settlement agreement, in which U.S. officials agreed not to deport asylum seekers who arrived in the country as unaccompanied minors until their applications had been fully adjudicated.

"Defendants have now removed at least one (asylum seeker) from this country without adjudication of his asylum petition on the merits by U.S. Customs and Immigration Service," Gallagher wrote. "As a result, at this stage of the proceedings, both parties agree that this is just a breach of contract."

Gallagher also instructed the Trump administration to facilitate Cristian's return to the United States.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) called the deportation "unacceptable" in a statement shared on X.

"A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled that the Trump Administration has yet again wrongfully deported another Maryland resident living lawfully in the United States and must get him back," Ivey wrote. "These mistakes are unacceptable and would be prevented if this Administration stopped denying due process. He and Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned to the U.S. immediately."

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Abrego Garcia of Beltsville was also removed from the country on March 15 as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping deportation efforts. His case has since become a national flashpoint as Trump follows up on his campaign promises of mass deportations.

Federal officials later admitted the married father's deportation was an "administrative error." While the Supreme Court has since ordered that he be returned to the United States, the case remains before a federal judge.

Despite admitting to mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has balked at orders to return him to the country and continued its repeated claims that he is part of the MS-13 gang in Long Island, New York, where he has never lived. Court records also show Abrego Garcia has never been convicted of a crime.

However, Cristian was convicted in January of possession of cocaine, a Texas state jail felony, according to a Banner report citing Robert Cerna, USCIS acting field office director for enforcement and removal operations.

In an order filed Tuesday in the Abrego Garcia case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis accused the Trump administration of ignoring court orders, obstructing the legal process and acting in “bad faith” by refusing to provide information about the steps they have taken, if any, to free him.

“For weeks, Defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court’s orders,” Xinis wrote in the order. “Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions. That ends now.”

She gave the administration until 6 p.m. Wednesday to provide those details.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.