The Trump administration placed a Justice Department lawyer on indefinite paid leave for not arguing strenuously enough against allowing a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador back into the U.S.
Erez Reuveni was placed on leave by Attorney General Pam Bondi for not "zealously advocating" the government's position. Reuveni admitted that the U.S. made a mistake when it deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia last month.
At a hearing on Friday, a judge ruled that Garcia must be returned to the U.S. by Monday.
“At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States,” Bondi told the New York Times. “Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.”
The Trump administration launched an emergency appeal on Saturday, arguing that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis doesn't have the ability to force the administration to return Garcia to the U.S.
“Late Friday afternoon, a federal district judge ordered the United States to force El Salvador to send one of its citizens – a member of MS-13, no less – back to the United States by midnight on Monday. If there was ever a case for an emergency stay pending appeal, this would be it,” the government wrote.
The government no longer has "control" over Garcia after he was deported, the DOJ further argued.
Nevertheless, the court’s injunction commands that Defendants accomplish, somehow, Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States in give or take one business day,” the appeal said, calling it “indefensible.”
The DOJ claimed that Garcia was a member of MS-13, but he has denied this, according to other reports.
In fact, an immigration judge ruled five years ago that Garcia could not be deported because he would be in danger from gang activity in El Salvador.
Garcia entered the country in 2011, and at the time of his deportation he was married to an American citizen and had a child. He was also working as a sheet metal fabricator.
He was arrested in front of his son, who was in the car in an IKEA parking lot where he was detained.
In an NPR interview on Monday, Assistant Secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin said that multiple judges had viewed classified information and confirmed that Garcia was an MS-13 gang member.
"I think the bottom line for the American people and for those who are listening today is that this individual in question, who's an MS-13 gang member, he should be behind bars, whether it be in El Salvador or in a U.S. detention facility," she said. "He should not be on the streets of America. And to remind listeners, MS-13 is a gang that murders, rapes, traffics drugs. They maim for sport. These are individuals we do not want in our country, especially those who are here illegally."
