The White House has dug in on its refusal to return a man who US officials have acknowledged was wrongly deported last month from Maryland to an El Salvador mega-prison.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on accusations that Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyer denies.
Leavitt also accused the 29-year-old of domestic violence, citing records showing his US citizen wife once filed a protective order against him.
A Maryland judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to bring Mr Ábrego García back to the US. But El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said on a visit to the White House this week that he did not “have the power” to return him.
All of those facts are irrelevant and distractions though. Assuming that is the case then he should have been tried according to the rules of this country. The point in concentrating on this isn’t about the individual, it’s about the implication and precedent that is being set for everyone in the future.