Timeline: The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

• His administration has repeatedly claimed that Abrego Garcia is a criminal and a known member of MS-13, and the Department of Justice has charged him with human smuggling.

Context: The Maryland man, who is originally from El Salvador, was detained by immigration officials and mistakenly deported, despite a court order that he remain in the U.S. due to a likelihood of harm in his native country.

• Department of Justice attorneys previously conceded that he was removed to El Salvador because of an "administrative error."
• The Trump administration initially refused to comply with a Supreme Court order requiring it to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return from a high-security prison for terrorists in El Salvador, but he was brought back to the U.S. in June.

Here's a timeline of the case:

Aug. 25

• Abrego Garcia is detained by ICE and taken into immigration detention in Baltimore.
• Court filings from the Department of Justice indicate plans to deport him to Uganda, though Abrego Garcia's attorney's filed to fight those removal efforts until a court has heard his claim for protection, per AP.
• Filing the lawsuit triggered blanket court order will automatically pause deportation efforts for two days.
• "Regardless of what happens today with ICE, promise me this," Abrego Garcia said Monday in Baltimore. "That you will keep fighting, praying, believing in dignity and freedom — not just for me, for everyone."

Aug. 22

• Abrego Garcia is released from Tennessee jail and transported to Maryland.

June 30

• Abrego Garcia's release from jail delayed out of concern that he would be deported if released while awaiting trial.

June 26

• The White House says an AP report of plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country are "fake news."

• "Due to operational security, ICE does not confirm future removal operations until they have landed in respective countries," a DHS spokesperson said at the time.

June 13

• Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to human smuggling charges in a federal court in Tennessee. The court appearance was the first chance he had in a U.S. courtroom to answer the Trump administration's allegations, per AP.

June 7

• Abrego Garcia is returned to the U.S. and charged with smuggling undocumented immigrants.
• Trump said it wasn't his decision to bring him back.
• "The Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that's fine," the president said.

April 29

President Trump told ABC News in an interview that he "could" get Abrego Garcia back.

• Moran suggested the president could phone Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whom Trump previously said he hadn't asked to return Abrego Garcia, and say, "Send him back right now."
• Trump replied, "And if he were the gentleman you say he is, I would do that."
• The president said he wasn't the one making decisions in the situation, adding that government lawyers "don't want to do this."

Separately, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) slammed the administration's "gross violations of the Constitution and due process rights" in a letter to Trump.

April 23

Xinis postponed the discovery process until 5pm on April 30 after the Trump administration filed a sealed motion following her order a day earlier to respond to all outstanding discovery requests and evidence for claims of privilege.

• Abrego Garcia's legal team filed a sealed response. Both parties agreed to the postponement.

April 18

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Abrego Garcia was moved from the country's notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison to a detention center in Santa Ana, El Salvador.

April 17

Hours after Van Hollen was denied entry to CECOT for a second time, the senator was able to meet with Abrego Garcia, his Maryland constituent.

• A federal appeals court earlier that day rejected a Trump administration request to block a lower court's order requiring his return.

April 16

El Salvador's government denied a request from Van Hollen to see or speak to Abrego Garcia, the senator said during a visit to the country.

• Van Hollen said he asked El Salvador Vice President Félix Ulloa why his constituent is being held if U.S. courts and El Salvador's government had found no evidence that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.
• "His answer was the Trump administration is paying El Salvador ... to keep him at CECOT," the senator said.

April 15

The DOJ said in a court filing that if Abrego Garcia returns to the U.S., he' will be detained and removed from the country.

• He'll either be sent to a country that's not El Salvador, or the government will seek to "terminate" his "withholding of removal" status and send him back to El Salvador, the filing states.
• A federal judge later that day wouldn't rule out holding the government in contempt of court, per multiple reports.

April 14

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he can't return Abrego Garcia, to the U.S., nor will he release him within the country.

• "How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him," Bukele said during a press conference with President Trump.

April 13

DOJ attorneys said in a court filing, "The federal courts have no authority to direct the executive branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner."

• They added, "That is the 'exclusive power of the president as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations."

April 12

Abrego Garcia's attorneys in a court filing highlighted Trump's comments a day earlier that he would "bring somebody back" if the Supreme Court directed it.

• They characterized this statement as an acknowledgment that the U.S. "has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from prison and return" him.
• Despite Trump's acknowledgment, Abrego Garcia's attorneys argued, the DOJ "and other Government agencies continue to resist this Court and the Supreme Court."

April 11

Xinis demanded the government provide daily updates in Abrego Garcia's case.

• The judge said this should include sharing information on Abrego Garcia's location plus steps it has already taken to return him to the U.S. and steps it will take moving forward.

April 10

The Supreme Court ruled in an unsigned order with no dissenting votes that the Trump administration must take steps to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's release from custody.

• The high court said the government must ensure his case is "handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."

April 7

The Supreme Court temporarily paused Xinis' midnight deadline to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. while the justices weighed the case.

• The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier the same day refused to block Xinis' order.

April 4

Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison to the U.S. by midnight on April 7.

March 31

The DOJ admitted in court papers that the Salvadorian national living in Maryland legally was wrongly deported.

March 15

Although "ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error," DOJ attorneys said in a filing.

March 12

Abrego Garcia was stopped by immigration agents who wrongly told him that his status had changed, court documents show.

• He had "withholding from removal" status, which means he was allowed to stay in the U.S. because of the likelihood that he'd face harm in El Salvador.
• Abrego Garcia was questioned about gang affiliation and transferred to a Texas detention center.

More from Axios:

• Releasing wrongly deported man "preposterous," El Salvador's president says
• Judge demands daily updates on return of wrongfully deported Maryland man
• Supreme Court: Trump admin must "facilitate" return of deported Maryland man

Editor's note: This piece has been updated with the latest news.