During a meeting at the White House on Monday, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele dismissed the idea of returning a deported man to the United States, despite a Justice Department admission that his removal was a mistake.
“How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States?” Bukele remarked in response to a question about Kilmar Abrego Garcia while seated next to President Donald Trump. “Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”
When pressed on whether Abrego Garcia would be freed in El Salvador, Bukele stated, “We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists.”
Trump then turned his attention to the reporters in the room and accused them of having ulterior motives. “They’d love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people,” he said.
Trump added that he encouraged Bukele to accept “as many criminals as possible.”
According to court records, neither U.S. nor Salvadoran authorities have charged Abrego Garcia with any crimes.
The Justice Department admitted that his deportation violated a 2019 immigration judge’s ruling that prohibited his removal to El Salvador. The Supreme Court later ruled that sending him back was unlawful and ordered the administration to “facilitate” his return, while respecting executive branch authority.
In a declaration submitted Monday, the administration referenced Bukele’s White House comments and reiterated its stance that it lacks the legal power to retrieve Abrego Garcia. “DHS does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation,” wrote Joseph Mazzara, acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security.
At the meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the Supreme Court’s instructions, saying, “the foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court, and no court in the United States has a right to conduct a foreign policy of the United States.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi also weighed in, clarifying that any repatriation effort would depend entirely on El Salvador’s cooperation. “If they want to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane. That’s up for El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us.”
Stephen Miller, a senior Trump adviser, told Fox News on Monday morning that Abrego Garcia was rightfully deported. “He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador,” Miller said, contradicting the Justice Department’s repeated legal filings that labeled the deportation an “administrative error.”
“This was the right person sent to the right place,” Miller added, even as the Supreme Court deemed the removal illegal in a ruling the prior week.
The high court’s decision clearly stated, “The United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal,” attributing the mistake to an “administrative error.”
Miller further insisted that if Bukele returned Abrego Garcia, the U.S. would deport him again immediately. “He would be deported the second time to El Salvador.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., criticized both the Trump administration and Bukele’s handling of the matter. “The Trump administration’s position, in my view, is absolutely unsustainable, as is the position of the president of El Salvador,” he told reporters.
“They are clearly just snubbing their nose at the courts, including the Supreme Court. And the courts, in my view, need to exercise their ability to sanction people who ignore court orders,” Van Hollen added, noting he’s seeking a meeting with Bukele. Abrego Garcia had previously lived in Maryland.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed Bukele’s stance, saying in a statement, “The law is clear, due process was grossly violated. He should be returned to the U.S. immediately.”
The Trump administration previously arranged a $6 million deal with El Salvador to detain individuals it classifies as members of dangerous gangs such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and MS-13, both labeled as terrorist organizations by the administration.
Although a 2019 immigration judge linked Abrego Garcia to MS-13, he denies any such ties.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case seeking his return, noted that neither American nor Salvadoran officials have criminal charges against him and described the gang affiliation as a single, weak accusation.
“The ‘evidence’ against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13’s ‘Western’ clique in New York — a place he has never lived,” Xinis ruled.
On Fox News, Miller claimed that being affiliated with MS-13 nullified the judge’s order, despite the U.S. government never making that legal argument in court.
During the White House meeting, Miller mischaracterized Xinis’ decision, saying she “had tried to tell the administration that they had to kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here.”
In reality, Xinis, backed by the Supreme Court, instructed the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return—a directive Miller interpreted as meaning the U.S. would accept his return if El Salvador voluntarily agreed.
During the public portion of the Oval Office meeting, no Trump official asked Bukele to send Abrego Garcia back. Bondi, Rubio, and Miller each said that decision lay solely with the Salvadoran government.
Abrego Garcia’s legal team at Murray Osorio PLLC released a statement raising alarms about his continued confinement in El Salvador in defiance of the court’s ruling.
“Let us be clear: the responsibility to return Mr. Abrego Garcia lies squarely with the United States government. His deportation was not just an administrative error—it was a constitutional failure,” the statement read.
“We urge the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to act now—and with the urgency this moment demands. Delays in executing the Supreme Court’s directive are unacceptable. We call for immediate transparency and action to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia home,” the lawyers added.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia also argued that U.S. officials exercise more authority over the Salvadoran prison than they admit, given the $6 million the Trump administration is paying to keep deportees incarcerated there.
Miller dismissed the DOJ’s earlier admission that the deportation had been a mistake. He told Fox News the acknowledgment came from “a DOJ lawyer who has since been relieved of duty, a saboteur, a Democrat.”
However, that claim doesn’t align with the facts. Solicitor General D. John Sauer also described the deportation as an “administrative error” in a filing submitted to the Supreme Court last week.
Following the high court’s ruling, Judge Xinis ordered the federal government to “take all available steps to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States as soon as possible” and to report back with “the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”
Initially, the administration failed to provide that information, but a later court filing revealed that Abrego Garcia “is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. He is alive and secure in that facility.”
{Matzav.com}