During a visit to the White House on Monday, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele claimed he didn't have the authority to return a man the U.S. mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous," Bukele told reporters.
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The Supreme Court ordered the U.S. to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported due to an administrative error. While he is from El Salvador, he was under a court order barring his removal due to credible fears he would be harmed if returned to his home country. Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland with his wife and daughter.
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Just days after President Donald Trump took office, El Salvador agreed to accept criminal deportees from the U.S. of any nationality.
Hundreds have since been transported to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, which is known for its brutal conditions, including Abrego Garcia.
The Trump administration has claimed that Abrego Garcia is part of the MS-13 gang, an allegation Abrego Garcia's attorneys have denied.
"He was illegally in our country, he had been illegally in our country. In 2019, two courts — an immigration court and an appellate immigration court — ruled that he was a member of MS-13 and he was illegally in our country," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the Oval Office Monday. "Additional paperwork had needed to be done. That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us."
