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.

President Trump’s aides abruptly said the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, had been lawfully sent to a prison in El Salvador, contradicting what officials themselves have said in court filings.

A State Department official revealed the status of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, saying he is “alive and secure” in the Central American country’s notorious mega-prison.