The judicial pushback against President Trump's immigration agenda is expanding, with a judge appointed by Trump himself moving to block him.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled that Trump must return a 20-year-old Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador, Fox News reported.

The judge says the administration violated a class action settlement with a group of illegal immigrants, including the Venezuelan man, who entered the U.S. when they were children.

The agreement protects the immigrants in the class action case from being deported until their asylum claims are adjudicated.

Immigration standoff

Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out summary deportations has set up a dramatic conflict between the courts and the White House. Some judges, in the name of enforcing legal boundaries, have ordered Trump to return aliens who were already removed from U.S. soil.

The Trump administration says meddling judges are stepping on the president's legitimate powers.

Trump has remained defiant over the highly publicized deportation of a Salvadoran man with MS-13 ties, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was removed to his native country in March.

A district court judge appointed by Barack Obama ordered Trump to bring Garcia back to the U.S. The Supreme Court said Trump must "facilitate" his return, but the justices also warned the district judge, Paula Xinis, to respect Trump's prerogative over foreign affairs.

Trump ordered to return immigrant

Judge Gallagher noted that the case of the 20-year-old Venezuelan man, known as Cristian, is different from other court battles concerning the Alien Enemies Act because it is about a "breach of contract."

At the same time, the judge directly invoked the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as the judge warned she would not hesitate to order the return of a foreign national who was already deported.

"Like Judge [Paula] Xinis in the Abrego Garcia matter, this court will order Defendants to facilitate Cristian's return to the United States so that he can receive the process he was entitled to under the parties' binding Settlement Agreement," Gallagher wrote.

Satisfying the court's order requires the administration to make "a good faith request to the government of El Salvador and to release Cristian to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS," the judge siad.

Two different battles

The administration says that the man has a conviction for cocaine possession-- and they say his designation as an alien enemy overrides the contractual agreement not to deport him.

In the court of public opinion, at least, Trump is faring better. Voters rate him highly on immigration, so it's no surprise that Trump sees the standoff over deportations as a winning battle.

Unfortunately, convincing federal courts to let him do his job is another matter.