A federal judge on Friday found the Trump administration in contempt for deporting an asylum-seeker to El Salvador in violation of three court orders.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ordered the government to return the man — identified in court documents as E.L.A. — to the U.S. and to “refrain” from executing any removal orders against him until his asylum case is fully processed.
According to court documents, E.L.A. was wrongfully deported twice.
After his first deportation, he voluntarily boarded a plane on August 7 to return to the U.S., “submitted himself” to immigration custody, and “endured weeks of detention only to be wrongfully removed by the government a second time to his country of feared persecution.”
The case stems from a 2019 federal class-action lawsuit that protects the asylum rights of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as unaccompanied minors.
According to court documents, at least 107 people protected by the settlement — 54 confirmed class members and 53 more the government flagged as potentially protected — were removed under final deportation orders before their asylum claims were decided.
ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Feb. 4, 2026, in Minneapolis.
John Moore/Getty Images
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In August, Judge Gallagher found DHS in civil contempt, ruling that the government was repeatedly removing young asylum seekers it was legally barred from deporting.
Friday’s court order requires both parties to provide an update on E.L.A.’s return to the U.S. by Oct. 2.
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