A federal appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of another man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in violation of a court order.
The order to facilitate the return of Jordin Alexander Melgar-Salmeron, a 31-year-old Salvadoran who was deported last month minutes after a federal appeals court barred his removal, is the fourth known case of a migrant ordered to be returned to the U.S. after being wrongly removed.
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Two of the migrants, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia and a Guatemalan man identified in court papers as O.C.G. who was wrongly deported to Mexico, have been returned to the U.S.
On Tuesday, the three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found that Melgar-Salmeron’s deportation was “improper” because it “contradicted” the government’s assurances to the court that it would not remove him.
The court ordered the administration to facilitate the return of Melgar-Salmeron “as soon as possible” to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
The Trump administration was also ordered to file a declaration from an individual with personal knowledge about the 31-year-old’s current physical location and what steps the government will take to facilitate Melgar-Salmeron’s return to the U.S.
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According to court records, Melgar-Salmeron had been in immigration detention in the U.S. for two years following a prison sentence for possessing an “unregistered sawed-off shotgun.” In April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement scheduled his removal for May 9.
But on May 7, minutes after a federal appeals court barred Melgar-Salmeron’s deportation, he was removed to El Salvador.
