(The Center Square) – The White House on Tuesday pushed back on those criticizing the Trump administration for its efforts to deport criminal noncitizens after it was disclosed that an El Salvadoran man in the U.S. legally was deported to his home country because of an administrative error.

Asked at Tuesday's White House press briefing about the error and a judge's order that he not be sent back to his home country, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the deportation, saying the man in question was a member of the violent MS-13 gang.

"The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and viscous MS-13 gang," Leavitt said.

The press secretary also said authorities have evidence the man was involved in human trafficking and a leader in the MS-13 gang, which President Donald Trump designated a foreign terrorist organization.

MS-13 "is a brutal and vicious gang," Leavitt said. "They raped and strangled a 20-year-old autistic woman to death in Maryland. They hacked four people to death with machetes in a park on Long Island. They have kidnapped, sexually tortured and shot a teenage girl in Texas after she insulted them, allegedly."

Leavitt went on to identify other violent crimes allegedly committed by MS-13 gang members.

As of March 13, Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers arrested more than 33,000 noncitizens in the U.S. illegally. Of those, 14,111 were convicted criminals, according to ICE, and 9,980 have pending criminal charges.