A Justice Department lawyer mirrored Trump officials’ aggressive position in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a prison in El Salvador in March.
For nearly two months, the Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a prison in El Salvador in March.
Several administration officials — including a former Justice Department lawyer assigned to the case — have openly acknowledged that Mr. Abrego Garcia was flown to El Salvador despite a court order forbidding him from being sent there. But President Trump and some of his top aides have repeatedly insisted that he will not be coming back to the United States.
On Friday, a lawyer for the Justice Department made a new assertion, telling the judge overseeing the case that while Mr. Abrego Garcia’s expulsion was in fact an error, it was neither illegal nor an example of government misconduct.
“Not to split hairs with your honor, but he was removed lawfully,” the lawyer, Jonathan Guynn, said at a hearing in Federal District Court in Maryland.
While Mr. Guynn may have been splitting hairs, it is true that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s legal status was complicated when he was placed on one of three charter planes on March 15 and flown to El Salvador with scores of other immigrants.
In 2019, an immigration judge had found that he was in the United States illegally and could be deported to anywhere except El Salvador, his homeland. That was because the judge had determined that Mr. Abrego Garcia was likely to face persecution there from street gangs if he was sent back.
