Trump showdown in court in spotlight

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump's showdown with the judicial system came into the spotlight on Tuesday as a judge grilled his administration over its failure to return a migrant wrongly deported to El Salvador.

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The Trump administration previously admitted that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was living in the eastern state of Maryland and married to a US citizen, was deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador due to an “administrative error”.

A judge has ordered Trump to “facilitate” his return, an order upheld by the Supreme Court, but his government has yet to request El Salvador return Abrego Garcia.

Trump has alleged that Abrego Garcia is “an MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist from El Salvador”, while press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that he was “engaged in human trafficking”.

But Abrego Garcia's family has continued to proclaim his innocence, and Judge Paula Xinis - before whom the Tuesday hearing was held - has said she had seen no evidence Abrego Garcia was a gang member.