The 10-page indictment, filed more than two weeks ago, charges the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador with crimes related to transporting undocumented migrants. The prospect of a U.S. trial could provide an offramp for the Trump administration, which had bitterly opposed court orders requiring the government to take steps to return him to the U.S.

Devlin Barrett and Glenn Thrush reported from Washington, and Alan Feuer from New York.

The case became a lightning rod for criticism of Trump’s immigration policies, after Abrego Garcia was wrongly sent to El Salvador.