President Donald Trump speaks during an “Invest in America” roundtable with business leaders at the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Attorneys representing a man “wrongfully” deported to El Salvador in violation of a legal settlement agreement are looking to hold someone – anyone – in the Trump administration accountable.
Since 2024, Daniel Lozano-Camargo, 20, whose case was filed under the pseudonym “Cristian,” was protected from deportation while his pending asylum claim was being litigated with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). But earlier this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents breezed through that injunction and put Lozano-Camargo on an aircraft along with some 250 others – sending him to the notorious prison in El Salvador known as The Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Last week, Lozano-Camargo was returned to his country of origin as part of a three-country prisoner exchange. While the CECOT group was returned to Venezuela, 10 U.S. nationals being held by Venezuelan authorities finally made it back stateside.
Now, Lozano-Camargo”s lawyers are crying foul once again.
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“He was a pawn in this prisoner exchange deal,” attorney Kevin DeJong said during a hearing on Tuesday, according to a courtroom report by CNN. “They were taking active, purposeful steps to deport him to the country in which he actually fears persecution.”
Prior to the prisoner swap, Lozano-Camargo’s attorneys notified the Baltimore-based federal court about those precise fears – that the Venezuelan man seeking reprieve from alleged persecution by the Venezuelan government was, in fact, being sent back to Venezuela.
“The U.S. government’s involvement in transportation of class member Cristian from El Salvador to Venezuela — a country from which he has sought asylum — would defy this Court’s April 23 order,” a two-page letter motion sent last week reads. “It would also give the lie to the government’s repeated assertions that it lacks authority to immediately facilitate Cristian’s return, as this Court’s order requires.”
In turn, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, instructed the government to respond to the claims about Lozano-Camargo’s then-apparent destination.
The U.S. Department of Justice replied in the affirmative that same day – admitting he had, in fact, been “flown to his home country.”
The Venezuelan government also provided “assurances” that any members of the CECOT group who needed to be sent back to the U.S. “if called for in legal proceedings or required by a court” would be able to do so without “obstacles,” the three-page motion added.
In court on Tuesday, Lozano-Camargo’s attorneys slammed the federal government for “egregious violations” of the judge’s orders.
“Given the history of violations here, criminal contempt should be on the table,” DeJong told the court at one point.
Each successive month brought substantial updates in the case.
In April, Gallagher cited contract law principles in a 19-page opinion directing the government to try and get Lozano-Camargo back stateside “so that he can receive the process he was entitled to under the parties’ binding Settlement Agreement.”
In May, the judge upbraided the DOJ for arguing that another ruling – in an asylum adjudication – precluded the need for his return because he would not be allowed to remain in the country anyway. Gallagher insisted, however, that her ruling was still operative.
Initially, Gallagher’s order was briefly stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. But days later, the appellate court issued an order upholding the district court – and excoriating the Trump administration for ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court’s prior ruling in the markedly similar case where the government made pains to ignore a lower court order to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
In June, jurisdiction well-established, Gallagher issued a baleful order directing the government to provide progress reports about steps taken to get Lozano-Camargo back to the U.S. – or face sanctions.
In July, the court pointed out that El Salvador’s government had recently claim “jurisdiction and legal responsibility for [CECOT] persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign authorities.” This, the judge said, required a direct explanation from the Trump administration – which up to that point had repeatedly claimed El Salvador was in charge of the CECOT detainees.
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Now, after months of such missteps and alleged perfidy, Lozano-Camargo’s lawyers think the threat of sanctions should be realized.
“There have been recurring violations and just blatant disregard for the settlement agreement, the court’s orders,” DeJong reportedly insisted. “Someone should be held accountable.”
Speaking for the government, DOJ general attorney Ruth Ann Mueller rejected the allegations leveled by the man’s legal team.
“Should Cristian wish to return, the government is ready and able to facilitate that,” the DOJ lawyer said – adding that the government was in the process of removing “domestic barriers” for his return.
The judge observed the mandatory progress reports were now moot since Lozano-Camargo is no longer in El Salvador but said it “wouldn’t be moot as to whether my orders were complied with or not.”
“I don’t disagree that you have proffered a basis under which you could potentially seek some sort of sanctions or contempt,” Gallagher said, according to a courtroom report by Fox News. “I’m certainly not ruling on that – or offering any opinion on whether that effort would succeed – but it sounds to me that you have proffered a basis on which you believe such a motion could possibly be forthcoming.”
The man’s attorneys promised to begin the process of seeking contempt against the Trump administration within 10 days.
