The controversy around the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia intensified yet again on Wednesday.

A senator visited El Salvador, the White House held an emotive press conference with a bereaved mother, and the case was rocked by allegations of past domestic violence.

Abrego Garcia is a 29-year-old father of three who had been living in Maryland until he was detained and deported last month.

The deportation — back to his native El Salvador, where he is being held in the notorious CECOT prison — came despite a 2019 order from a U.S. immigration judge specifically protecting him from deportation to his home country.

A legal battle has been playing out ever since.

Wednesday saw Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) fly to El Salvador to seek answers about Abrego Garcia’s detention.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt brought the mother of Rachel Morin to the lectern of the press briefing room. In 2023, Rachel Morin was killed in especially brutal fashion by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, who was found guilty of her murder on Monday.

Rachel’s mother Patty Morin drew an implicit parallel between her daughter’s killer and Abrego Garcia at her White House appearance, even though the latter has never been charged with a crime.

The Abrego Garcia case has become subject to intense spin from all sides.

Here are the answers to some of the biggest questions.

Is Abrego Garcia a member of MS-13, a violent gang?

The short answer is, an immigration judge said yes, but he and his family say no.

The longer explanation goes back to 2019, when Abrego Garcia first faced removal proceedings.

It is not disputed that he entered the United States illegally some years previously.

But even the way he was first apprehended by authorities is shrouded in confusion.

According to legal filings, the paperwork on this issue is contradictory. One version says he was picked up because he and other men were loitering outside a Home Depot.........

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