President Donald Trump's efforts to fulfill his campaign pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and conduct mass deportations have been met with all manner of political and judicial opposition, but the administration just notched something of a win in a case that has made headlines in recent weeks.

As Fox News reports, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to review Trump administration arguments, thereby halting a lower court order requiring the return to the U.S. of a 20-year-old Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador in March.

Deportation battle begins

At the heart of the dispute is the case of Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a Venezuelan man residing in Houston, Texas, who was deported earlier this year amid accusations of links to a “violent terrorist gang” as Newsweek noted.

Though Lozano-Camargo claimed that he entered the U.S. at the age of 17 to flee persecution and said he had none of the asserted gang affiliations, a sworn declaration included information from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official stating that he was arrested at the start of the year on a cocaine possession charge.

While no evidence of Lozano-Camargo's alleged ties to Tren de Aragua has been made public to date, he was deported to El Salvador in March following an administration determination that he was eligible for removal pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act.

Lower court orders return

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher reiterated her prior order instructing the Trump administration to pursue the return of Lozano-Camargo from Venezuela declaring his deportation to have run afoul of an earlier legal settlement designed to prevent such an outcome, as Politico reported.

In her initial order, Gallagher declared that Lozano-Camargo was granted protection from removal by virtue of a 2024 court-approved settlement agreement in which federal authorities agreed to halt deportations of individuals who entered the country as unaccompanied minors until full adjudication of their asylum claims occurred.

The Justice Department countered that position by contending that even if Lozano-Camargo were brought back to the U.S. and received an asylum hearing, his request would not be granted.

Further, the DOJ contended that Lozano-Camargo's deportation did not violate the settlement agreement cited by Gallagher, because it applied only to deportations resulting from ordinary immigration cases and not removals made under different legal authority, including an invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.

In reinforcing her original order, Gallagher declared her belief that the case was not one concerning whether the young man would ultimately receive asylum and stated, “The issue is, and has always been, one of process,” adding that the administration cannot “skip to the end and say, 'We all know how this is going ot end up'” and must therefore return Lozano-Camargo to this country so that he can receive the aforementioned “due process.”

Appeals court to hear appeal

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals this week, however, agreed to hear the administration's appeal of Gallagher's ruling, offering the Justice Department a new opportunity to justify the removal to El Salvador.

In doing so, the panel stayed the lower court order requiring Lozano-Camargo's return to the U.S. until May 15.

Plaintiffs in the matter were ordered to submit a written response to the court by noon Monday, while the Trump administration was given until 9 a.m. Tuesday to present its arguments.

Though it remains to be seen whether the Justice Department will prevail in its position on Lozano-Camargo's removal from the United States, given the intense debate over Trump's broader immigration agenda, it seems certain that all eyes will be on the court as it renders its ruling.