A federal judge in the U.S. has ordered the Trump administration to return a man who was deported in error and is being held at the notorious Mega prison in El Salvador. Justice Paula Xinis, in the District of Maryland, gave the federal government an 11:59 p.m. deadline on Monday, April 7, 2025, to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States. Lawyers for the government were hoping to negotiate a voluntary return of Garcia instead of an order from the court, which they fear may set a precedent in other matters before other federal courts. The U.S. has already acknowledged Garcia - a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S legally with a work permit - was deported in error last month when the government flew three planes of migrants alleged to have ties to violent gangs or immigration violations to the Central America country. But the administration has argued it has no legal authority to bring him back to the country, though Abrego Garcia's lawyers dispute that. "They put him there, they can bring him back,” Andrew Rossman, a lawyer at prominent law firm Quinn Emanuel who joined Abrego Garcia’s legal team on Friday, said in a statement.