Jose Escobar lost his legal status in a paperwork gaffe more than a decade ago when he was still a teen in Houston.
That slip-up, the fault of his mother who thought her child would be automatically included in her own renewal application, has trailed him ever since. Thursday it lead to his surprise deportation to El Salvador, a country he hasn't seen in 16 years.
The government's decision to remove the 31-year-old father, who has no criminal record and is married to an American citizen, is the latest indication that President Donald Trump's administration plans to deport practically any immigrant here illegally, even some like Escobar who were temporarily protected, who happens to fall into its cross hairs.