The Justice Department has placed on administrative leave a government immigration lawyer who in court this week expressed frustration at not being able to answer key questions from a judge over a mistaken deportation case,

Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni made multiple critical comments of his agency in court during Friday's hearing over the mistaken deportation of a Maryland man to El Salvador.

The DOJ attorney said in court that the administration should not have deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a protected legal resident.

The Trump administration is asking an appeals court to suspend a judge's order for the government to broker the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison.

A judge ordered the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a wrongly deported Maryland man, from El Salvador. Despite government acknowledgment of the mistake, the administration claims no legal authority to bring him back.

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.

A federal judge said Friday the government must secure the return of a Prince George’s County, Maryland, man who Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted it deported in error.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was taken to El Salvador on March 15 because of what the Trump administration has called an "administrative error."

A federal judge didn’t have the authority to order the Trump administration to broker the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported from the U.S. to a notorious El Salvador prison, government attorneys argued Saturday as they urged an appeals court to suspend the ruling.