The Trump administration said a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported and then brought back to the US on criminal charges will "never go free", even though a judge has ordered his release.
Kilmar Ábrego García was deported in March as part of an immigration crackdown. Government officials said he had been removed in error, but they were unable to bring him back.
Earlier this month, he was sent to the state of Tennessee, where the justice department charged him with human smuggling.
The judge overseeing the case said on Sunday that Mr Ábrego García should be released from legal custody while he awaits trial. But she noted immigration officials would still have the power to detain him.
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien," Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a social media post on Monday.
