In a bold return to the golden era of courtroom drama, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg resumed his high-profile inquiry Wednesday to determine if Trump administration officials made history’s clumsiest clerical error—accidentally deporting hundreds of men to El Salvador in direct defiance of a March court order.

“We’re just trying to clarify whether they misunderstood my order, or whether they’ve pioneered a radical new branch of law called Reverse Compliance,” Judge Boasberg stated, poised over a stack of signed affidavits and coffee-stained Post-it notes.

Officials from the ICE Department of Unexpected Departures will now testify under oath regarding the events surrounding what insiders dub the ‘Oops, All Deportations’ initiative. According to sources, the core defense strategy involves the phrase, “Well, the plane was already in the air, Your Honor.”

“Frankly, we thought the order was more of a suggestion,” explained former Deputy Secretary Walter ‘Skip’ Leever in prepared remarks. “Like, ‘Don’t touch the thermostat’—you know they don’t really mean it.”

Department spokesperson Linda Pewter expressed optimism: “We’re confident the judge will see this for what it is: a simple mix-up between ‘deport’ and ‘import.’ All those syllables are very confusing before your morning coffee.”

The hearing is expected to include dramatic reenactments of urgent phone calls to midair pilots, interpretive PowerPoints, and at least one emotional apology note scribbled on a cocktail napkin. Legal scholars are watching closely, with Harvard’s Dr. Leon Codswallop predicting, “If successful, this defense could pave the way for future government operations based on the ‘Whoopsie-Daisy Doctrine.’”