Identity of second wrongfully deported man revealed, as Trump admin fights his return to US soil
The identity of a second Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March was revealed this week while the Trump administration continues to resist a federal judge's orders to return him to the U.S.
The individual, previously referred to only as "Cristian" in earlier documents, was identified Monday as Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a 20-year-old Venezuelan man who had been living in Houston prior to January, when he was arrested for cocaine possession and subsequently deported to El Salvador in March. News of his identity was first reported by Politico.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled late last month that the Trump administration violated a settlement agreement that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) struck last year with a group of young asylum seekers, including Lozano-Camargo, by deporting him before his asylum request was heard in full.
The 20-year-old was part of a group of migrants who had entered the U.S. illegally as unaccompanied children and who later filed asylum claims to remain in the U.S.
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In her April ruling, Gallagher emphasized that unlike other legal challenges to Trump-era deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, this case hinges on an alleged "breach of contract," as DHS had agreed not to deport the individuals until their asylum claims were fully adjudicated in U.S. court.
Lozano-Camargo's December 2022 asylum request was still pending when he was deported along with hundreds of other migrants on March 15 to El Salvador. As a result, Gallagher specifically ordered the Trump administration to make a "good faith request to the government of El Salvador" to "release Cristian, [or Lozano-Camargo], to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS."
She also alluded to the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged MS-13 member living in Maryland who was also deported to El Salvador last month in what administration officials have acknowledged was an administrative error.
To date, U.S. officials have resisted court orders to "facilitate" the return of Abrego Garcia – arguments they doubled down on Monday in a court filing to Gallagher.
The Trump administration previously told the court it had determined that Lozano-Camargo was eligible for removal under the Alien Enemies Act because he had been arrested and convicted for cocaine possession earlier this year. This appears to be his second low-level drug offense.
Trump officials doubled down on this in a Monday court filing, telling the court there was no breach of contract with DHS in Lozano-Camargo's case, They told the court that his designation as an "alien enemy pursuant to the AEA results in him ceasing to be a member" of the class that had negotiated a settlement – "aliens subject to removal" under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act proclamation "cannot claim asylum, and therefore are not class members."
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To date, there is no public evidence that Lozano-Camargo is a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump declared on March 15 to be a designated "Foreign Terrorist Organization" in an effort to allow them to more quickly deport certain migrants from the U.S.
Justice Department officials claimed in earlier court documents that Lozano-Camargo was a member of a "violent terrorist gang," but have not linked him to TdA. Portions of their most recent court filing have been redacted.