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Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed back Sunday against a federal judge’s ruling that the Trump administration must bring back an illegal immigrant from Maryland who was wrongly deported to El Salvador.
Ms. Bondi said members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was put on a March 15 deportation flight in error, was a member of the MS-13 gang.
“The argument that because these people are living among us, these illegal aliens from El Salvador, means they are not part of a gang?” Ms. Bondi said on Fox News Sunday. “That is how they are hiding. That is how they are succeeding.”
“That is how they insulate themselves,” she said. “So, we have to rely on what ICE says, we have to rely on what Homeland Security says.”
“I firmly believe in the work they are doing and we are going to make America safe again,” she said.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said Friday the government has until midnight on Monday to bring Mr. Abrego-Garcia back from El Salvador after a government lawyer admitted they lacked the lawful basis to send him to his home country.
Judge Xinis, an Obama appointee, said the government had not provided any evidence to back up their claim that Mr. Abrego-Garcia is a dangerous member of MS-13.
“This was an illegal act,” the judge said.
Erez Reuveni, a Justice Department lawyer, admitted the government made a mistake.
“Mr. Abrego-Garcia should not have been removed. That is not in dispute,” Mr. Reuveni said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded by putting Mr. Reuveni on administrative leave.
On Sunday, Ms. Bondi supported that decision, saying Mr. Reuveni violated a memo she issued mandating that lawyers “vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States.”
“Our client in this matter is Homeland Security,” Ms. Bondi said. “He shouldn’t have taken the case. He shouldn’t have argued it if that is what he was going to do.”
“You have to vigorously argue on behalf of your client,” she said.
The Trump administration says foreign terrorists are not afforded legal protections in the U.S.
Mr. Abrego-Garcia was ordered deported in 2019, but the immigration judge at the time ruled he faced the possibility of persecution or torture in his home country of El Salvador and could not be sent back.
Mr. Reuveni said Mr. Abrego-Garcia could be deported because of the 2019 order. But he said sending the immigrant back to El Salvador was unlawful.
The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal Friday afternoon.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
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