The Trump government erroneously deported a man who was allegedly a member of a gang in Maryland to El Salvador as part of his deportation flights on March 15, despite the decision of a judge forbidding his removal, according to a court document on Monday (31).
Man’s lawyers, Kilmer Abrego-Garcia, in a separate document, said he is not a member of the MS-13 gang and demanded his immediate return to the United States.
In the document on Monday, an employee of the US Department of Immigration and Customs (ICE) said Abreago-Garcia was on a third flight of deportation of people under the 1798 foreign enemy law, despite a 2019 court decision that granted him protection.
“By administrative error, Abrego-Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador. This was a carelessness, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and the alleged participation of Abrego-Garcia in MS-13,” the document says.
The Trump government invoked the 18th century law to deport Venezuelans and Salvadoran who claims to be members of violent gangs as part of their wide repression of immigration.
The representatives of some deported denied any bond with gangs, and the courts temporarily blocked the use of the law amid legal contestations.
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Abreago-Garcia lawyers, in a March 28 document, asked the Federal District Court in Maryland to order their return to the United States and suspend US financing for their detention at an El Salvador megaprision, which they called the “notorious torture chamber”.
“When the government sets aside the laws and orders of the courts, including the administrative courts, state power consists only of the ability to commit violence,” they wrote, noting that the US government could have made other measures to contest the 2019 decision.
ICE said he was aware of the previous court order that blocked the removal of Abrego-Garcia and that he was arrested on March 12 for his supposed role in MS-13 and transferred to the preparation area for deportation flights.
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He was not in the initial manifesto of the flight of 15 March, but was designated for the flight as a “alternative substitute”, as other people were removed from the flight for several reasons, he added.
