The RecordExhibit 122
Deporting young asylum seekers protected by a court settlement
Ruled unlawful means: A court ruled against it. Some rulings are on appeal.
A Trump-appointed judge found the administration in contempt on Sept. 25, 2026 for deporting a 19-year-old asylum seeker to El Salvador a second time, in violation of three court orders.
What happened
The man, identified in court as E.L.A., belongs to a class of people who came to the United States as unaccompanied children and later applied for asylum. A 2024 settlement of their lawsuit bars the government from deporting class members before immigration officials decide their asylum claims. After his first deportation he flew back on Aug. 7, turned himself in to immigration custody and spent weeks in detention before being removed again on Sept. 1. Court documents show at least 107 people protected by the settlement were removed before their claims were decided, ABC News reported: 54 confirmed class members and 53 more the government flagged as possibly covered. In April 2025 the same judge ordered the return of another class member, a 20-year-old called Cristian in court filings, who had been sent to El Salvador.
Where it stands
Judge Stephanie Gallagher of the federal court in Maryland ordered the government to bring E.L.A. back, return his property and documents, and not carry out any removal order against him until his asylum claim is decided or the settlement expires. She found violations of orders she issued in November 2024, April 2025 and July 2026. It was her second contempt finding in the case this year; the first came after lawyers said multiple class members had been wrongly deported. She told both sides to report by Oct. 2 on whether E.L.A. wants to return and how.
The administration's side
In court, the government called E.L.A.'s second removal erroneous. A Sept. 2 filing said officials learned of it from an email sent by the class's lawyers, and the next day the government said it was weighing steps to fix 'the communication errors' behind it. Justice Department lawyers also told the judge that an earlier message from those lawyers had asked where E.L.A. was without mentioning deportation or alleging a violation of court orders. We found no public statement from Homeland Security or the White House responding to the contempt finding.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/asylumyouth/