Judge Gallagher Holds DHS in Contempt for Deporting Asylum-Seeking Teen to El Salvador Twice

A federal judge in Maryland held the Department of Homeland Security in contempt on Friday, September 25, for deporting a teenage asylum seeker to El Salvador for the second time in violation of three separate court orders, according to court filings reported by ABC News and Newsweek.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher, appointed by President Trump, ruled the government violated orders she issued on November 25, 2024, April 23, 2025, and July 29, 2026, when it removed the man identified in court papers only as E.L.A. The case is part of J.O.P. v. DHS, a class action dating to 2019 that protects asylum seekers who entered the United States as unaccompanied minors from deportation before their claims are fully processed.

Deported Twice in Six Months

E.L.A. entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, according to a DHS spokesperson who spoke to Newsweek. He was first deported on March 13, 2026. The government confirmed in May that he qualified as a protected class member under the 2019 settlement, and after his attorneys said he wanted to return and pursue his asylum claim, officials brought him back to the U.S. on August 7. ABC News reported he "submitted himself" to immigration custody and was held in detention in Louisiana while preparing for an asylum interview and psychological evaluation.

That changed on September 1. His attorneys learned a scheduled video appointment had been canceled because he was "no longer at this facility," according to court filings cited by Wonderwall. Family members later told the lawyers that E.L.A. had called from El Salvador to say he'd been deported again. According to the filing, officials told him he was being transferred to another detention center, then instead put him on a flight to San Salvador. His attorneys wrote that the removal "not only violates multiple court orders, but it also places him back in the country where he fears persecution."

The Government's Defense

DHS's account, laid out in a filing reported by the Epoch Times, tells a different story about intent. The government said E.L.A. missed a biometrics appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sometime in 2025, and that when applicants miss such appointments, USCIS "usually closes the case and provides notice to the applicant." His case wasn't formally closed, but the internal marker flagging him as a protected class member was removed, which the government says explains how he ended up on a deportation flight despite the court orders.

DHS also told the court that E.L.A. "doesn't want to return" now, and that it has offered him a seat on one of "multiple such flights weekly" back to the U.S. "Defendants cannot compel E.L.A. to avail himself of the proffered relief," the filing said.

His attorneys pushed back hard on that framing, arguing in filings cited by the Epoch Times that the government is only offering to fly him back so it can "hand him a notice" closing his asylum case over the missed appointment. Justice Department attorneys, per Wonderwall, said officials are "considering appropriate steps to rectify the communication errors" that led to the second removal.

Whether E.L.A. was deceived onto a deportation flight or is now declining a legitimate offer to return remains a factual dispute. Gallagher's written opinion explaining her September 25 contempt finding was sealed, according to the Epoch Times, so her reasoning on that specific question isn't yet public.

107 People and Counting

ABC News and AOL both reported that at least 107 people covered by the 2019 settlement, 54 confirmed class members and 53 more the government flagged as potentially protected, were removed under final deportation orders before their asylum claims were decided. The E.L.A. case is part of a broader pattern. The court has now sanctioned DHS over the issue twice in under two months, following an earlier civil contempt ruling in late July.

What Gallagher Ordered

Friday's order requires the government to return E.L.A. to the U.S., bars any further removal until USCIS issues a final determination on a properly filed asylum application or the settlement expires, and requires officials to give three days' notice of his arrival to E.L.A., his lawyers, and class counsel. It also orders DHS to return any property and documents taken from him, and to give at least five business days' notice, along with a stated legal basis, before attempting any future removal.

A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to ABC News's request for comment on the contempt ruling. Both sides are required to update the court on E.L.A.'s return status by October 2, which is the next concrete date to watch in a case that has now produced two contempt findings against the same agency in less than 60 days.