A person holds up a sign referencing the Centre for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) prison in El Salvador during a May Day demonstration against President Donald Trump and his immigration policies in Houston, Texas, on May 1, 2025. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)
This decision "strikes the right balance between giving the government the ability" to appeal to the higher court as they see fit – and also allows plaintiffs to seek due process in U.S. courts, Gallagher said.
Lozano-Camargo, previously referred to in court documents as "Cristian," was deported to El Salvador in March under the Trump administration's early wave of Alien Enemies Act deportations.
Gallagher ruled in April that the government violated a 2024 settlement between DHS and a group of young asylum seekers, including Lozano-Camargo. Under that deal, DHS agreed not to deport the migrants – all of whom entered the U.S. as unaccompanied children – until their cases were fully heard in court.
Last month, Gallagher said Lozano-Camargo’s deportation was a "breach of contract," since his asylum case had not yet been heard, and ordered the U.S. government to facilitate his release.
Gallagher reiterated her previous decision on Tuesday. She also emphasized it has nothing to do with the strength of his asylum request, in a nod to two apparent low-level drug offenses and a conviction as recently as January. Rather, she said, it is about allowing him the process under the law, and under the settlement struck with DHS.
That settlement agreement "requires him to be here and have his hearing," she said.
TRUMP-ALIGNED GROUP SUES CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS IN EFFORT TO RESTRICT POWER OF THE COURTS
More than 250 suspected gang members, including 238 members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and 23 members of MS-13, arrive in El Salvador on March 16, 2025. (El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"We don’t skip to the end and say, ‘We all know how this is going to end so we’ll just skip that part,'" she said.
The administration's appeal to the 4th Circuit, should it choose to file it, is due by Thursday afternoon.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-orders-return-deported-migrant-us-rejecting-trump-request