Career officials within the Trump adminstration had been trying behind the scenes to return wrongly-deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States after learning he had been sent to the infamous Salvadoran CECOT megaprison — but these efforts were shut down by White House officials early on, reported The Atlantic on Friday.

Garcia's removal has become a massive controversy and focal point of protest around President Donald Trump's mass deportation policy, as well as his defiance of court orders.

"A lawsuit filed by Abrego Garcia’s family sparked urgent conversations among attorneys at the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security who were involved in formulating the government’s response. Their discussion — which has not been previously reported — reflected serious concerns, at odds with the administration’s later statements, according to two people familiar with the conversations, as well as notes and memos I reviewed," reported Nick Miroff.

"These conversations show that U.S. officials initially sought to resolve Abrego Garcia’s case quietly and ensure his safety through the conventional diplomatic channels they’ve used in other cases involving a mistaken deportation. This time, though, their efforts were abruptly halted."

Multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, have ordered the Trump administration to take all steps possible to "facilitate" the return of Abrego Garcia, who had been under a protective order prohibiting his deportation to El Salvador for his own safety, as Barrio 18 gang members had threatened him in the past.

Attorneys at the Department of Homeland Security had been aware early on that the deportation violated that order, and had been trying to start the process to return him to the U.S. However, per the report, administration higher-ups "swiftly turned an admission of bureaucratic error into a political opportunity — a chance to flex executive authority and test the judicial branch’s ability to restrain presidential power. Abrego Garcia’s deportation became far more than just the case of one man; it developed into a measure of whether Donald Trump’s administration can send people — citizens or not — to foreign prisons without due process. All the while, Abrego Garcia has remained in detention in El Salvador, unable to communicate with his lawyers or his family."....

"Career officials inside the Trump admin first viewed the case of Mr. Abrego Garcia like any normal case of a wrongful deportation — they began looking for ways to bring him back, as happens whenever ICE makes that mistake.Then the White House got involved, and blew it up."

The Trump administration has also insisted in response to criticism that the United States has no authority to order El Salvador to return Abrego Garcia to this country, and even if he was returned they would simply deport him to a different country. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has been eagerly striking deals with Trump to imprison deportees, echoed his line.