Mistakenly deported Salvadoran native Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in a Tennessee courtroom Friday, hours after he was brought back to the United States to face criminal charges for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case started quietly, boiling down to a clerical error that moved him up on a list to land on a deportation flight destined to El Salvador in March. And then a court filing from the Trump Justice Department acknowledging the mistake brought it to the national forefront – culminating in a fraught legal battle and heated political debate.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is on his way back to the U.S. , according to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) who visited him in April. Driving the news: Abrego Garcia, whose deportation to El Salvador has been a flashpoint in President Trump's immigration agenda,