President of El Salvador Bukele refuses to return wrongly deported man
Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador (Photo: Getty Images)
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has publicly rejected calls to return a man the US Supreme Court ruled was deported illegally, according to NBC News.
US courts call the deportation illegal, but Bukele won’t comply
Earlier in April, US District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia must be returned from a terrorist detention center in El Salvador by Monday, calling his removal an "administrative error" and likely illegal.
Garcia, who had been granted a deportation deferral in 2019, was arrested on March 12 and deported three days later without proper legal justification, according to court records.
While US authorities claim he is affiliated with the gang MS-13, Judge Xinis noted that the evidence was limited to a vague allegation and a Chicago Bulls hoodie.
During a meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, President Bukele rejected the court’s order outright.
"How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States? Of course, I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous," he said.
When asked if Garcia would be released, Bukele added, "We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists."
Trump administration dismisses court authority as conflict escalates
Despite the Supreme Court affirming the ruling, Trump and his allies have pushed back.
"They’d love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people," Trump said of the media.
His adviser Stephen Miller insisted on Fox News that Garcia’s deportation was correct: "This was the right person sent to the right place."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that courts have no say in foreign policy, and Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, "If they want to return him, we would facilitate it… That’s not up to us."
Garcia, a Venezuelan sheet metal worker with no criminal record in the US or El Salvador, remains locked in El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center. A hearing in his case is set for Tuesday.
The controversy unfolds as Trump continues to praise Bukele for accepting what he calls "the most violent alien enemies of the world" into El Salvador’s custody, cementing a partnership that’s turning legal disputes into global political strategy.
