An “administrative error” that led to a Maryland man being deported to a brutal prison in El Salvador as part of Donald Trump’s immigration policy has thrust Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia into the national spotlight.

Immigration officers asked Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia if he was a gang member, and refused to believe him when he denied it, according to court papers.

His legal presence in the US was based on a protection known as “withholding of removal,” which was granted by an immigration judge in 2019. That status is awarded when a judge determines that deporting someone would expose them to persecution or torture in their home country.

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was in the U.S. legally, is now in prison in El Salvador, and federal courts have no jurisdiction to order his release, the Trump administration said in a court filing.

BALTIMORE — A court battle is brewing in Maryland over the recent arrest and deportation of a purported gang member. Kilmar Armando Abrego-Garcia was arrested in Baltimore on March 12 due to his undocumented status, and alleged association with the violent MS-13 gang.

The Trump administration has maintained that the Maryland father deported to El Salvador last month was a member of the international criminal gang MS-13

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who has a U.S. citizen wife and 5-year-old child, is currently at CECOT, the notorious prison in El Salvador.

The Trump administration said ICE “was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador,” but still deported Abrego Garcia.

After the Trump administration 'mistakenly' deported her husband to El Salvador earlier this year, the wife of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia has released a devastating statement. A national of the South American country, Abrego Garcia fled hostility at home over a decade ago, starting a new life in the United States.