Later in 2019, a U.S. immigration judge shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized his family. The Trump administration deported him there anyway, later describing the mistake as “an administrative error” but insisting he was in MS-13.

The president and one of his top advisers repeatedly made outrageous claims about the man who has been sent to a prison in El Salvador known for its abuses.