The words of President Donald Trump and members of his administration undermined the government's contention during a court hearing on Wednesday that the men deported from the country under the Alien Enemies Act and delivered to El Salvador were not in the constructive custody of the United States.

A federal judge pressed the Justice Department on President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he could secure the return of migrants deported to a Salvadoran super prison, during a Wednesday evening hearing where the judge approved more fact-finding into whether the US has custody over the migrants it sent to the prison.

A U.S. judge on Wednesday is due to consider whether to order Republican President Donald Trump's administration to facilitate the return to the U.S. of Venezuelan migrants detained in El Salvador, potentially opening a new front in a major challenge to Trump's aggressive deportation policy.