April 6, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has placed a senior attorney on administrative leave following a federal judge’s order to return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, spotlighting tensions between the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and judicial oversight. The move came just a day after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled on Friday, April 4, that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant with legal protections, must be brought back to the U.S. by 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 7, slamming his deportation as an “illegal act.”
Erez Reuveni, the DOJ lawyer who argued the case, was sidelined Saturday after expressing frustration in court over the government’s handling of Garcia’s case. During the Greenbelt, Maryland, hearing, Reuveni conceded that Garcia “should not have been removed” and admitted he lacked answers to Xinis’s pointed questions about the legal basis for the deportation. “The first thing I did when this case landed on my desk was ask my clients that very question,” Reuveni told the judge, referring to his unsuccessful attempts to get clarity from administration officials. His candor drew a sharp rebuke from Attorney General Pam Bondi, who on Sunday told Fox News Sunday, “Every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States. Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.” Bondi confirmed Reuveni is no longer active on the case or within the department.
Garcia, a 29-year-old married to a U.S. citizen with a five-year-old American-born son, was deported on March 15 despite a 2019 immigration judge’s order granting him “withholding of removal” due to likely persecution in El Salvador. The Trump administration, which has ramped up deportations targeting alleged gang members, flew Garcia and over 200 others to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison known for harsh conditions. The White House has labeled Garcia an MS-13 gang member, a claim his lawyers and Xinis dismissed as baseless “chatter” lacking evidence—no indictments, complaints, or criminal records have been presented. The administration later admitted in a March 31 filing that Garcia’s removal was an “administrative error,” yet argued it lacks authority to retrieve him from Salvadoran custody.
Judge Xinis rejected that stance, asserting in her 22-page Sunday opinion that the U.S. orchestrated Garcia’s detention in El Salvador via a $6 million contract with the facility, giving it “functional control” to secure his return. She called the deportation a “grievous error,” noting Garcia’s lack of due process—he was seized without warrants, held across three U.S. detention centers, and shipped off without a hearing. Outside the courthouse, Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, pleaded for his return, saying, “He’s not a criminal—he’s an amazing father.”
The DOJ swiftly appealed Xinis’s order to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, filing an emergency stay Saturday that called her ruling “indefensible” and an overreach into foreign affairs. The administration insists it can’t compel El Salvador, a sovereign nation, to release Garcia, despite its role in sending him there. Immigrant advocates, including the ACLU, hailed Xinis’s decision as a check on Trump’s aggressive immigration tactics, while critics like Maryland Governor Wes Moore decried the initial deportation as a due process violation.
Reuveni’s suspension—he’s the acting deputy director of the DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation—has fueled debate over internal dissent within the department. Sources told ABC News his leave stems from a “failure to zealously advocate,” aligning with Bondi’s hardline stance, set out in a first-day memo demanding loyalty to administration positions. The case marks a flashpoint in Trump’s second-term immigration push, with courts increasingly clashing with executive actions. As the Monday deadline looms, all eyes are on whether the administration complies—or doubles down on its defiance.
