Appeals court orders Trump Administration to arrange return of Venezuelan "wrongfully" deported to El Salvador

An appeals court ordered the Trump Administration to comply with an order issued by a lower court that demanded the return to the United States of a Venezuelan citizen "unjustly" deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador last March, during the first flights of deportations carried out under the Alien Enemies Act.

The ruling, issued Monday, came from a panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, which voted 2-1 against the federal government's request to block the earlier order issued by a federal judge in Maryland.

According to Justice Stephanie Gallagher, the deportation of Venezuelan teenager Daniel Lozano-Camargo under the Enemy Alien Act - a wartime power—violated a legal agreement reached in 2024 that protects asylum seekers who entered the country as minors.

Lozano-Camargo, who is called "Cristian" in the documents, was deported to El Salvador on March 15 on a plane carrying some 130 Venezuelans who, according to the Trump Administration, were linked to the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), whose tentacles extend through several countries in the region, including the US.

"The Government cannot facilitate Cristian’s return telepathically — it must express in words to the government of El Salvador that Cristian be released for transport back to the United States," Judge DeAndrea Benjamin wrote on behalf of the panel majority.

Meanwhile, Judge Julius Richardson voted in dissent. His position is that courts may seek alternatives to remedy unjust deportations, but "directing diplomatic negotiations to the Executive Branch is not among them."

The TdA, which has been linked to terrible crimes outside Venezuelan territory, such as assassinations or kidnappings ordered by the regime of Nicolas Maduro, is a fast-growing gang currently with a presence in several states across the country. The Trump Administration recently made the decision to list it as a terrorist organization along with MS-13 and Mexican drug cartels.

The Trump Administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the deportation of Venezuelans accused of being linked to the Aragua Train to dreaded Salvadoran prisons in an effort to cleanse the country of illegal immigrants with records and also to send a message of force by seeking to deter ToD members from crossing the border.

However, the Trump Administration has received criticism for allegedly violating the due process of dozens of Venezuelans and other immigrant groups sent to El Salvador, including the deportation of Lozano-Camargo, which has not achieved the media impact that other similar cases, such as that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

For now, this is the second time that the Fourth Circuit has upheld a lower court order requiring the Trump Administration to facilitate the return of immigrants deported to El Salvador.