Lawyers say Venezuelan migrant ordered returned to US sent to home country under prisoner exchange

By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE AP Despite a judge s order calling for his return to the United States from El Salvador a Venezuelan migrant was instead sent back to his home country in a prisoner exchange deal reached last week an unexpected enhancement that left his lawyers scrambling to locate him It marks the latest wrinkle in yet another messy court battle over the Trump administration s crackdown on illegal immigration which has repeatedly challenged the power of federal courts Attorneys for the Venezuelan native identified only as Cristian in court papers revealed during a court hearing Tuesday that they don t know where he is or how to get in touch with him Related Articles Pentagon tightens rules on getting physiological waivers to join the military Hunter Biden lashes out at George Clooney other Democrats over Joe Biden s campaign There are various illegal marijuana farms but federal agents targeted California s biggest legal one Trump wants to hire new ICE agents Is that goal doable Republican Jim Jordan deposed in federal suit tied to sex abuse by late Ohio State club healthcare provider After he was deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison in March U S District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ordered the administration to facilitate the his return to the U S She cited the situation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to the same notorious prison Cristian is among a group of plaintiffs who entered the country as unaccompanied children seeking asylum A settlement agreement disclosed they couldn t be deported until their asylum suggests were adjudicated Because his application is still pending Gallagher disclosed the Trump administration violated that agreement in sending Cristian to a notorious prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center or CECOT which was built to hold alleged gang members And now he s back in Venezuela the country he escaped years ago because he feared persecution his attorneys argued during Tuesday s hearing in federal court in Baltimore They sent him back to the one country he s authentically seeking asylum from attorney Kevin DeJong recounted the court We were shocked to see that happen on Friday Cristian was circulated from CECOT along with other Venezuelan foreigners who had been imprisoned in El Salvador since March President Donald Trump paid El Salvador million to house them there after he issued a proclamation calling for the arrest and removal of Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act a wartime law As part of the deal on Friday Venezuela distributed jailed U S citizens and permanent residents in exchange for getting back the deportees Cristian was a pawn in this plan I don t know how else to say it DeJong stated He was a pawn in this prisoner exchange deal DeJong noted Cristian s legal group hasn t been able to get in touch with him since Gallagher who was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in advised the administration s lawyers Tuesday to help provide contact information for Cristian But Justice Department attorney Ruth Ann Mueller wasn t able to confirm even where in Venezuela he ended up This is a fast-evolving situation she commented The judge revealed she s seen no evidence showing the Trump administration tried to get Cristian sent directly to the U S upon his release from prison in El Salvador Attorneys for the plaintiffs mentioned they plan to file a motion requesting sanctions against the authorities for failing to comply with the court s orders Mueller however argued they were in compliance saying she believes what happened with El Salvador is moot now given Cristian s release She announced facilitating his return looks very different now that he s in Venezuela The first step would be Cristian s lawyers contacting him and confirming whether he indeed wants to return to the U S Before his deportation he was transferred into federal custody from a jail in Harris County Texas in January Immigration executives have already determined that Cristian isn t entitled to asylum according to earlier testimony from the ruling body But his lawyers argue he s still entitled to a ruling on the merits of his asylum application by the U S Citizenship and Immigration Services Attorneys for the administration wrote in court papers last week that Venezuelan leaders have pledged not to interfere with progress plans for anyone in Cristian s position who has to attend legal proceedings in the U S With these assurances now having been obtained and Cristian now having been distributed from El Salvador s custody the Department of State has pledged to assist the Department of Homeland Guard in facilitating the return of Cristian should he wish to return the attorneys wrote Mellissa Harper acting assistant director of enforcement and removal operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement declared in a written declaration to the court that State Department and embassy representatives have assumed responsibility for high-level diplomatic discussions about the situation Gallagher ordered the regime to file weekly status reports as the affair proceeds