Page:Abrego Garcia v. Noem District Court of Maryland Memorandum Opinion - April 6 2025.pdf/4

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Case 8:25-cv-00951-PX
Document 31
Filed 04/06/25
Page 4 of 22

withholding of removal to El Salvador pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). As a matter of law, withholding of removal prohibits DHS from returning an alien to the specific country in which he faces clear probability of persecution. In Abrego Garcia's case, the IJ concluded that he was entitled to such protection because the Barrio 18 gang had been "targeting him and threatening him with death because of his family's pupusa business." ECF No. 1-1 at 2. DHS never appealed the grant of withholding of removal, and so the decision became final on November 9, 2019.[1] See Hr'g Tr., Apr. 4, 2025, 24:15–16 (Mr. Reuveni: "The government did not appeal that decision, so it is final."). Accordingly, as Defendants have repeatedly admitted, they were legally prohibited from deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. See Hr'g Tr., Apr. 4, 2025, 25:6–7 (Mr. Reuveni: "There's no dispute that the order could not be used to send Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.").

For the next six years, Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland with his wife and their three children. ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 24–25. He complied fully with all directives from ICE, including annual check-ins, and has never been charged with or convicted of any crime. ECF No. 1–3, ECF No. 1 ¶ 45.

On March 12, 2025, while driving home from work with his young son in the car, Abrego Garcia was stopped by ICE agents. Id. ¶¶ 48–49. The officers had no warrant for his arrest and no lawful basis to take him into custody; they told him only that his "status had changed." Id. ¶ 50. He was first transported to an ICE facility in Baltimore, Maryland. Id. ¶¶ 51–53. Next, ICE agents shuttled him to detention facilities in Louisiana and La Villa, Texas. Id. ¶¶ 54–57. He was allowed a handful of calls to his wife. He said that he was told he would see a judge soon. Id. But

  1. ↑ A decision by an IJ becomes final "upon waiver of appeal or upon expiration of the time to appeal if no appeal is taken within that time." 8 C.F.R. § 1003.39. The deadline for filing an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals is 30 days from the date of the decision. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.38(b). Once final, a grant of withholding of removal prohibits removal to the country of feared persecution absent formal reopening and termination of that protection. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.24.

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