A federal judge on Tuesday reaffirmed her order requiring the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan man deported in March, saying the government violated a legal settlement by removing him before his asylum case had been resolved, Politico reported.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled that the government must "facilitate" the return of the man, referred to in court as "Cristian" and identified by Politico as Daniel Lozano-Camargo, who was removed from the country under President Donald Trump's order invoking the Alien Enemies Act. Lozano-Camargo had entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor and was seeking asylum.
"I don't think that this is a case about whether or not Cristian is going to eventually get asylum. Whether he ultimately receives asylum is not the issue. The issue is, and has always been, one of process," Gallagher said.
The Justice Department argued that Lozano-Camargo's deportation was lawful because it was carried out under a separate authority — the Alien Enemies Act — not covered by the 2024 settlement. The settlement, reached by the Biden administration to resolve ongoing litigation from Trump's first term, prohibits deporting unaccompanied minors before their asylum cases have been fully adjudicated.
Gallagher disagreed, stating that there was no language in the settlement that limited it to standard immigration cases. She criticized the administration for submitting an "indicative ruling" that asserted Lozano-Camargo would be ineligible for asylum due to alleged gang affiliations. The judge said the document, prepared without Lozano-Camargo's input, could not replace a formal hearing.
"It's not a substitute for the process that was due. Process is important," Gallagher said. "We don't skip to the end and say, 'We all know how this is going to end up….' My order requires that Cristian be returned to this country to get the process."
Lozano-Camargo, who had lived in Houston, was deported on March 15 amid claims by the administration that he was a member of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. His family has denied the accusation.
Gallagher's order is on hold for 48 hours to allow an appeal. If the administration does not appeal or a higher court does not intervene, Gallagher said she may begin requiring status reports and possibly sworn statements from government officials about their efforts to comply.
"There is some urgency here. We have a 20-year-old young man who's in prison in El Salvador for almost two months," Gallagher said.
Lozano-Camargo is the second deportee from a March flight ordered returned by a federal judge.
Earlier, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the administration must attempt to repatriate Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man deported in violation of an immigration court's protective order. The Trump administration challenged that decision up to the Supreme Court, which upheld most of the directive.