Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case started quietly, boiling down to a clerical error that moved him up on a list to land on a deportation flight destined to El Salvador in March. And then a court filing from the Trump Justice Department acknowledging the mistake brought it to the national forefront – culminating in a fraught legal battle and heated political debate.

In an interview with NBC News, the president said it was the Justice Department's decision, not his, to bring the Maryland man back to the U.S.