President Trump stood firm in his refusal to force the return of an illegal immigrant man who was wrongfully deported to his home country of El Salvador, where he was put in the country’s mega-prison.
Seated beside El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, Mr. Trump deferred a question about requesting Mr. Bukele to help return the man to Attorney General Pam Bondi. She reiterated that the Supreme Court only ruled that the U.S. must facilitate the return if Mr. Bukele wanted to return him to the U.S.
“That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him, that’s not up to us,” said Ms. Bondi, who attended the Oval Office meeting with other top administration officials. “If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning we would provide a plane.”
Mr. Bukele said he would not be ordering the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent on a planeload of deportees to El Salvador’s mega-prison.
“How can I return him to the United States, like I smuggle him to the United States?” Mr. Bukele said. “Of course, I’m not going to do it.”
“That question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” he said. “I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”
When asked if he would release him into El Salvador, he said, “We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country.”
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said, “It’s very arrogant even for American media to even suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens.”
The U.S. wrongfully deported Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, and the Supreme Court has said the U.S. must facilitate his return. He was identified as a gang member by an immigration judge and ordered to be deported in 2019. However, the judge ruled he couldn’t be sent to El Salvador because of the possibility of him being tortured.
Mr. Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, was sent on one of the three planes to El Salvador that contained members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs. Mr. Abrego Garcia maintains that he is not a member of MS-13, but an immigration judge from 2019 has said otherwise.
The Trump administration has admitted that he was wrongfully deported but has not committed to making moves to get him back. Mr. Trump on Friday said he would follow the high court’s ruling.
