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 White House on Tuesday asserted there was no scenario in which a Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador has made national headlines and spurred court battles would end up living a