HOUSTON, United States

A man from the state of Maryland who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown must be returned to the US, a federal judge ordered Friday.

US District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, after concluding he was unlawfully sent back to his home country of El Salvador despite an immigration court order that he not be deported.

During court proceedings, Justice Department lawyers admitted that Albrego Garcia had been deported in violation of federal law, according to media reports.

"This was an illegal act," Xinis said during the court hearing. "Congress said you can’t do it, and you did it anyway."

Albrego Garcia was among hundreds of alleged gang members of the crime gangs MS-13 and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua which the Trump administration expelled to El Salvador last month using its interpretation of the Alien Enemies Act. None of the men, however, were given due process through court hearings, which has spurred lawsuits regarding the deportations.

Albrego Garcia, who fled El Salvador as a teen to escape gang violence, was arrested by federal immigration agents near his Beltsville, Maryland home March 12. Three days later, he was expelled from the US and deported to El Salvador, even though he had won a court order six years earlier in a separate case that barred his removal from the US.

The Trump administration acknowledged in court records that Albrego Garcia's deportation was a mistake, citing an "administrative error," but said the US government has no jurisdiction to order his return because he is now in a foreign country.

The judge ordered Albrego Garcia's return by midnight Monday.