Despite an immigration and customs control officer (ICE) of the United States who acknowledged that there was an “administrative error” by sending a Maryland man to El Salvador, the Trump administration is “surprisingly” not looking for his return to the United States, according to a new presentation of man’s lawyer.
Kilmar Armando Abrego García, who has an American citizen and a 5 -year -old son, is currently in Cecot, the notorious prison in El Salvador despite a judge issued an order in 2019 that prohibited the authorities from deporting him to his country of origin.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, the lawyer who represents Abrego García, said in a presentation on Wednesday that if the actions of the Trump administration can remain without “repairing”, then “the orders of the immigration courts make no sense.”
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan Gang Train of Aragua recently deported by the United States government to be imprisoned in the prison of the Terrorism Confinement Center, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, obtained on March 16, 2025.
Press Secretary of the Presidency Via Reuters
“This is a scandalous set of facts,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg in the presentation. “If the actions of the defendants in this case can remain without repair, then the retention of the elimination statute and the orders of the immigration courts make no sense, because the government can deport those who want, wherever they want, when they wish, and no court can do anything about it once it is done.”
Earlier this week, Sandoval-Moshenberg filed a lawsuit, requesting that the Government of El Salvador return to Abrego García to the United States after being sent there “due to an administrative error.”
On Tuesday, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, acknowledged the administrative error and described Abrego García in a MS-13 leader.
“The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not return to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious gang MS-13,” Leavitt said.
According to judicial records, in 2019, a confidential informant “had reported that Abrego García was an active member” of the MS-13 gang. Later he submitted an I-589 asylum application and, although Abrego García was found removable, an immigration judge “granted him the removal of the removal to El Salvador.
“The defendant’s protest that the plaintiff is a member of MS-13, his legal argument that he is prevented from arguing the opposite, and the claimant’s claim that gang accusations arise from the most unreliable anonymous informants, will be adequately directed to an immigration court,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg in Wednesday’s presentation.
The alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Aragua Train, which were deported by the United States government, are arrested at the Center for Confinement of Terrorism in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a photo obtained on March 16, 2025.
Press Secretary of the Presidency Via Reuters
Sandoval-Moshenberg has said that its client “is not a member or has no affiliation with a Aragua train, MS-13, or any other criminal or street gang” and said that the United States government “has never produced an evidence Iot to support this accusation does not stop.”
In response, the government recognized the error, but said in a presentation that because Abrego García is no longer in custody of the United States, the court cannot order that they return it to the United States or the Court can order El Salvador to return it.
The new presentation of Sandoval-Moshenberg in support of his motion for a preliminary court order occurs days before a judge is scheduled to listen to arguments on the case in Maryland.
“Non-citizens, and their spouses and American citizens, should know that if this nation gives them protection against persecution, it will honor that commitment even when political winds change,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg.
The lawyer said that Deportation of Abrego García was carried out “by force” and not the law.
Last month, Abrego García was arrested by ICE officers who “informed him that his immigration status had changed.”
After being arrested for alleged gang affiliations, he was transferred to a detention center in Texas. He was then sent to El Salvador on March 15.
