By Steve Neavling
The U.S. Justice Department has suspended a senior attorney who admitted in court he didn’t understand why a Maryland man was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
Erez Reuveni, a longtime Justice Department lawyer, told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Friday that federal authorities had no legal basis for removing Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran immigrant married to a U.S. citizen, UPI reports. García was deported last month to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador under the Trump administration.
“We concede he should not have been removed,” Reuveni said in court, adding he didn’t know the justification for García’s detention or deportation.
Reuveni, who served as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation, has been placed on indefinite paid leave for failing to “zealously advocate” for the government, according to reports from ABC News, the Washington Post, and Politico. His supervisor, August Flentje, was also placed on leave for failing to properly oversee the case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, “Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.”
Judge Xinis ordered the government to return García to the U.S. by Monday, but the Trump administration argued it lacks jurisdiction over the Salvadoran prison. President Nayib Bukele, who has detained thousands in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, has not agreed to release García.
In a ruling published Sunday, Xinis criticized the administration’s silence and lack of explanation. She said the U.S. had no authority to detain or deport García and retains control over detainees it paid to have transferred to El Salvador. “Their jurisdictional arguments fail as a matter of law,” she wrote.
