ICE admits ‘administrative error’ in sending protected Maryland resident to Salvadoran prison– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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Excerpt:
In a new court filing, the Trump administration said it made a mistake in deporting a Maryland father with protected legal status to a prison in El Salvador.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Kilmer Armado Abrego-Garcia, who is married to a U.S. citizen and has a 5-year-old child, was mistakenly a part of three planes with Venezuelan deportees to the Salvadoran Terrorism Confinement Center last month. The filing appears to be the first time the administration has admitted a mistake during the legal fight over President Donald Trump’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportation of over 100 Venezuelan nationals.
“Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego-Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” an ICE official said in a court filing.
While the government acknowledged the error, it said that because Abrego-Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the court cannot order him to be returned to the U.S., nor can the court order El Salvador to return him.
In 2019, Abrego-Garcia was deemed by an immigration judge to be a likely member of the MS-13 gang based in Los Angeles, which Abrego-Garcia has repeatedly contested. In the same decision, the court agreed at the time that he should not be deported to El Salvador, determining that his fear of being persecuted or tortured at the grim prison was credible.
