Trump DOJ suspends lawyer for refusing to defend deportation of MS-13 gang member

The Trump administration has placed a Department of Justice attorney on indefinite paid leave for not “zealously advocating” the government’s position in the case where a Salvadoran man from Maryland was mistakenly deported.

DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni was removed from his duties following a Friday court hearing in which US District Judge Paula Xinis ordered that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father from El Salvador who had been living in Maryland, must be returned to the US by Monday. Reuveni acknowledged in court that Garcia’s deportation had been a mistake.

"At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States," Bondi said in a statement to the New York Times. "Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences." 

The Trump administration quickly responded with an emergency appeal on Saturday that sought to temporarily stay the judge’s decision until the government could properly appeal the ruling. The administration has argued that Judge Xinis did not have the authority to compel the federal government to retrieve Garcia from El Salvador, claiming it no longer had control over him. 

"Late Friday afternoon, a federal district judge ordered the United States to force El Salvador to send one of its citizens – a member of MS-13, no less – back to the United States by midnight on Monday. If there was ever a case for an emergency stay pending appeal, this would be it," the administration said in its emergency appeal, according to Fox News.

Garcia was expelled by ICE on March 15 in what officials have admitted was an “administrative error." Xinis had ruled that Garcia’s removal violated the Administrative Procedures Act, since it occurred without a judicial proceeding. 

While acknowledging this mistake, the Trump administration defended the deportation, claiming Garcia is a member of MS-13, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by President Donald Trump.

"This individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation’s immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking,"  said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing last week. "And now MS-13 is a designated foreign terrorist organization. Foreign terrorists have no legal protections in the United States of America. And this administration is going to continue to deport foreign terrorists and illegal criminals from our nation’s interior," she added. 

Garcia came to the US illegally in 2011 seeking asylum. Five years ago, an immigration judge determined that he could not be deported to his home country due to the threat of gang violence. Although Garcia’s asylum was denied, he was given protection from deportation and ICE did not appeal the decision.