I have previously written about another case that is very similar to Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s, and in some respects, even worse with respect to the government’s alleged violation of the law. The case is J.O.P. v. DHS, and the plaintiff, who goes under the pseudonym “Cristian,” is currently in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison due to the U.S. government violating a court-enforced settlement agreement prohibiting his removal from the United States. That’s according to District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, who like Judge Paula Xinis in the Abrego Garcia case, has now ordered the government to facilitate the release of “Cristian” from El Salvador.
On Monday, the Fourth Circuit upheld Judge Gallagher’s decision, denying the government’s requested suspension of the district court order while the case is on appeal. What’s more, the Fourth Circuit made a point of the government’s failure to respond to the plaintiff’s allegation that the administration engaged in a “contrivance” to keep Cristian in El Salvador – “a deafening silence,” the Fourth Circuit wrote.
Politico’s Josh Gerstein identified “Cristian” as Daniel Lozano-Camargo in an investigative report.
What’s the supposed government contrivance? It involves a document that the administration generated in an effort to moot the district court order. Lozano-Camargo is a member of a class of unaccompanied minors covered by a December 2024 settlement agreement prohibiting their removal from the United States while they have an asylum application pending. The Trump administration removed him under the purported authority of the Alien Enemies Act in March of this year, despite his having such a pending asylum claim. On April 23, Judge Gallagher ordered the government to facilitate his return. On May 4, the Justice Department came up with a document it called an “Indicative Asylum Decision,” issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), stating the agency would deny his asylum claim on the basis of the government claim he is a member of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) Venezuelan gang. The Indicative Asylum Decision was signed on May 1, 2025.
Two items are of note here:
The first concerns the government’s evidence that Lozano-Camargo is a member of TdA. In her opinion accompanying the April 23 order, Judge Gallagher wrote: “Defendants [government counsel] have provided no evidence, or even any specific allegations, as to how Cristian, or any other Class Member, poses a threat to public safety.” She referred to the government document that simply stated ICE determined Lozano-Camargo was subject to the Alien Enemies Act Proclamation. “This Court is a court of evidence,” Judge Gallagher noted pointedly.
Second, is the completely unique USCIS document that the government produced. The Fourth Circuit majority explained:
“Cristian argues, the Indicative Asylum Decision—created five days after the district court’s facilitation order was issued—was not an authentic change in factual circumstances. Cristian contends that neither ‘USCIS regulation, policy, [n]or practice’ provides for ‘Indicative Asylum Decisions.’ Resp. Br. at 21 (‘[S]uch a practice appears nowhere in the agency’s 271-page procedural manual . . . .’). Cristian concludes that the Indicative Asylum Decision is a ‘litigation-driven’ document—a ‘contrivance’ ‘created just for this case.’ Id. The Government has no response to this charge—a deafening silence.
Comparing the Cases
The following Table shows the remarkable similarities between the Abrego Garcia and Lozano-Camargo cases.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that Lozano-Camargo has an especially strong legal case as a Venezuelan national. It is plain that President Nayib Bukele has no special claim to keep him in El Salvador.
