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Baltimore — A federal judge in Baltimore cleared the path to a potentially light empty lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday after failing to comply with a court order requiring Venezuelan immigrants who have been deported back to U.S. soil from El Salvador.
An update from US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher concludes an extraordinary court hearing centered around the status and location of “Christian,” a 20-year-old Venezuelan immigrant deported to CECOT’s largest security prison in El Salvador in March.
Gallagher stressed Tuesday to Christian’s lawyers that the recent spike in updates in the case could potentially drive the plaintiffs’ potential sanctions or cont extensions against the Trump administration, and she had no opinion on whether the effort would be successful.
“I disagree that you could potentially seek some kind of sanction or provided a basis for suppressing contractic,” Gallagher said. “I certainly haven’t ruled that — or I’m not going to give an opinion on whether the effort will be successful, but I think you provided evidence that you believe that such a move is coming.”
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Protesters will meet on April 24, 2025 in New York City to protest the deportation of immigrants to El Salvador outside of El Salvador’s permanent mission to the United Nations. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
She also stressed that despite the procedural changes before the court, it did not mean that they were “abandoning the ship” to ensure Christian’s return to the United States, but she acknowledged that the situation on earth had changed significantly.
Trump’s appointee Gallagher ruled in April that Christian deportation violated a settlement agreement that was attacked with a group of young asylum seekers last year. Based on the 2024 deal, DHS agreed not to expel any members of that class until the asylum claim has been awarded in full by a US court.
The hearing highlighted the rapidly changing patterns of fact that underpinned Christian’s management situation. A few days ago, Christian was deported from Secott, El Salvador to his home country in Venezuela.
Gallagher said Tuesday that the new situation has caused the court to “a different stance” compared to its position just a week ago.
Christian’s lawyers argued that the move, which had no prior notice, should be the basis for moving forward with the Trump administration being held criminally. The judge, on her part, did not rule it out.
In Gallagher’s ruling four months ago, she found that Christian’s removal was a “breach of contract” due to the terms of the settlement of the 2024 DHS deal. She then ordered the Trump administration to promote return to the United States.
But as Tuesday’s hearing revealed, the migrants known as Daniel Lozano Camargo, or “Christian,” in court documents, are not on their way to the United States from CECOT.
In fact, a Justice Department lawyer confirmed Tuesday that he returned to his home country in Venezuela on Friday to be deported along with 251 other Venezuelan immigrants, along with 251 other Venezuelan immigrants who had been deported from the United States to El Salvador as the Trump administration had only used it three times in US history in March.
Their return to Venezuela is part of a prisoner exchange created to secure the release of 10 Americans detained in the country, confirmed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later Friday.
He also raised deep concerns about the status of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants sent from CECOT to their country of origin. Little is known about the individuals deported to CECOT earlier this year, and it is unclear whether or not the migrant in question has been given a “withholding removal” order from the US, which is blocking its return to Venezuela, or how many migrants have been given.
Christian’s lawyer Kevin DeJohn on Tuesday baffled the Trump administration with a “blatant neglect” of Gallagher’s order, explaining that he would include it as a “bad violation” of the April order in exchange.
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing the declaration at the White House’s oval office on April 17, 2025 (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Trump administration said on Tuesday [Cristian] In Venezuela, a country he seeks asylum, without providing notice to the courts or his legal team until he is on the ground.
DeJohn claimed the exchange appears to have been in work for weeks, but he said the Trump administration “indicating aggressive and deliberate measures.” [Cristian] To a country where he actively fears persecution. ”
“There have been repeated violations” from the administration, DeJong said, and “blatantly ignored it.” [DHS] An order to file a settlement agreement, court order, and court status report. ”
“I’m not taking this lightly – and a heavy issue to consider – but given the history of the violations here, they believe that “detectives’ lightly empty should be on the table.”
Gallagher disagreed. She told the plaintiffs that they appeared to have provided evidence against the Trump administration that “they could “seek certain sanctions or light empts,” but she stressed that she had no opinion on whether the effort would be successful.
She also said the update does not mean that the court is “abandoning the ship” in its efforts to ensure Cristian’s return to the US, but she acknowledged that the situation on the ground has changed dramatically.
After a short break, Christian’s attorney told Gallagher he would submit appropriate sanctions-related measures within the next 10 days.
In the interim, Gallagher said the Trump administration would require the submission of a weekly status report on Christian’s position in Venezuela.
She also became modest in an astonishing exchange with Justice Department Ruth Anne Mueller after arguing that the relief was “out of scope” by the court, as the relief was “already provided.”
They argued that the case should be dismissed because the issue is currently in dispute, but Gallagher strongly rebutted.
Gallagher then asked how previous Trump administration submissions answered court questions about whether the Salvadoran government had complied with her orders to help him return Christian to the United States or “promote his return.”
Doj argued that since Christian is currently under Venezuela’s custody, the questioning was pointless either.
“No, it doesn’t follow my order,” Gallagher opposed sharply. “That doesn’t answer the question.”
The case of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, another immigrant who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, is similar to that of Christian. (Fox News)
The case has many similarities with the case of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, a Salvadrian immigrant who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and ordered to be returned to the United States by a federal judge.
Like Abrego Garcia, Christian stayed in El Salvador for several months, despite the court orders requesting him return and requesting regular updates to his status to determine compliance with the order.
However, Tuesday’s complaint hearing, as well as the court filings filed with Gallagher in recent days, underscored a very different situation that has been unfolding instead.
“Christian was the pawn of this plan,” DeJog said Tuesday, saying the government had taken “active measures to expel him” despite the court’s orders.
“They may have included him,” he insisted on a flight to the US with Abrego Garcia.
Instead, Dejong said, “The only reasonable reasoning we see is that government lawyers deliberately ignored it.”
In May, Gallagher refused to grant her Trump administration’s request to lift an order that required Christian to be returned. She stressed that her orders have nothing to do with the strength of his asylum demand, nodding to two obvious low-level drug offenses and the convictions they had asylum claims as they had in recent January.
Rather, she said it was to allow the process of being attacked by DHS under the law and under settlement.
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She said at the time that it wasn’t the case of whether Lozano Camargo would eventually be vacant – it’s a matter of the process.
The DHS settlement agreement “requires him to be here and have a hearing,” she said.
Breanne Deppisch is a national political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering the Trump administration, focusing on the Department of Justice, the FBI and other national news.
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