WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is invoking the “state secrets privilege” in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge’s questions about its mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis disclosed the government’s position in a two-page order on Wednesday.

She set a Monday deadline for attorneys to file briefs on the issue and how it could affect Abrego Garcia’s case.

Xinis also scheduled a May 16 hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, to address the matter.

The Republican administration previously invoked the same legal authority to cut off a judge’s inquiry into whether it defied an order to turn around planes deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia, 29, has been imprisoned in his native El Salvador for nearly two months.

His mistaken deportation has become a flash point for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and his increasing friction with the U.S. courts.

— The Associated Press