Judge orders return of wrongly deported Maryland man to US from El Salvador

Salvadoran prison guards escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout image obtained March 31, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) -A U.S. judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must return a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador back to the United States within three days, the latest legal setback for the administration's hardline deportation policies.

The U.S. has already acknowledged Kilmar Abrego Garcia - a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S legally with a work permit - was deported in error as part of three planeloads of migrants flown out last month over alleged ties to violent gangs.