El Salvador president won’t return countryman deported by the US
WASHINGTON—El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said at the White House on Monday he had no plans to return one of his countrymen mistakenly deported from the United States, suggesting that doing so would be like smuggling a terrorist into the country.
His remarks came during an Oval Office meeting where multiple officials in President Donald Trump’s administration said they were not required to bring back Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite a US Supreme Court order saying they must “facilitate” the El Salvadoran’s return.
Abrego Garcia’s case has drawn attention as the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people to El Salvador with help from Bukele, whose country is receiving $6 million to house the migrants in a high-security megaprison.
The US government, which insists that Abrego Garcia is a member of the terrorist organization MS-13, has described his deportation as an administrative error. But in court filings and at the White House on Monday, the administration indicated it does not plan to ask for Abrego Garcia back, raising questions about whether it is defying the courts.
‘No authority’
In a Monday court filing, a US Department of Homeland Security official said the agency “does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.”
Bukele told reporters he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.
“The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, echoing the Trump administration’s claim.
Bukele’s comments came shortly after US attorney general Pam Bondi said at the same meeting that the United States needed only to “provide a plane” if Bukele wanted to return Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have denied the allegation that he is a gang member, saying the United States has presented no credible evidence.
The United States deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador on March 15. Trump called reporters asking whether the administration would follow the order for his return “sick people.”
“The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during the Oval Office meeting.
Court ruling
Trump’s administration interpreted the April 10 ruling of the Supreme Court on Abrego Garcia’s case as a “victory” saying the decision reiterated the executive branch’s authority regarding foreign policy and even warned courts against overreach in such matters.
In its ruling, the US Supreme Court said, “The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” warning that the lower court “may exceed … its authority.”
Trump said he would send as many people living in the United States illegally to El Salvador as possible and help Bukele build new prisons.
The migrants El Salvador accepts from the United States are housed in a facility known as the Terrorism Confinement Center. Critics say that the prison engages in human rights abuses and claim that Bukele’s crackdown on gangs has swept up many innocent people without due process.
Bukele told Trump he is accused of imprisoning thousands of people. “I like to say that we actually liberated millions,” he said.
