Trump and Bukele join forces to defy Supreme Court ruling
During a meeting with Donald Trump, Nayib Bukele revealed he has no intention of returning the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
El Salvador will not return Kilmar Ábrego García to the United States. That was the unequivocal message from President Nayib Bukele following a meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, where the Salvadoran leader dismissed the possibility of reversing a deportation that stemmed from what US officials have admitted was an administrative mistake.
“Of course we won’t do it. I don’t have the authority to return him,” said Bukele when pressed by reporters. “The question is absurd.” He went on to liken such a move to “smuggling a terrorist” back into the United States – a comment that drew a smile of seeming approval from Trump.
The remarks were made in response to comments from US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had suggested the decision now rested with El Salvador. “It’s not up to us. If El Salvador wants to send him back, we’ll make it easy – we’ll provide air transport,” she said.
The Ábrego García case sparks outrage in the US
The situation surrounding Kilmar Ábrego García has ignited fury and legal confusion in the US. The 29-year-old Maryland resident and father of two, originally from El Salvador, was deported to his home country earlier this year and transferred to the country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison – despite having a court order that barred his deportation.
The mistake was acknowledged by Robert Cerna, acting director of ICE’s Baltimore field office, who said: “Due to an administrative error, Ábrego García was deported from the United States to El Salvador. This was an oversight, and the deportation was carried out in good faith, based on a final removal order and his alleged ties to MS-13.”
Yet Ábrego had been granted a stay of deportation precisely because he feared persecution by gangs in El Salvador. A federal judge in Maryland ruled that he must be returned to the US – a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court 9-0.
Still, during Monday’s meeting at the White House, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claimed the ruling favored the administration and that the US was under no obligation to bring Ábrego García back. He reiterated the claim that the man is affiliated with MS-13, despite ICE’s admission of error and the lack of concrete evidence.
Deportation tied to 2019 arrest, disputed gang links
Ábrego García first entered the US illegally in 2011 after fleeing gang violence in El Salvador. His deportation was reportedly connected to a 2019 arrest in Maryland and a later determination – now contested – that he belonged to MS-13.
“He was in our country illegally – he had been in our country illegally,” said Bondi. “At this point, further processing was needed; but now it’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him.”
Family and legal team maintain innocence
Ábrego’s attorneys and family members insist he is innocent, has no criminal record, and has simply been working hard to provide for his children. “He has never been involved in gangs. He just worked and stayed out of trouble,” his lawyer told reporters.
For now, he remains imprisoned in El Salvador – the victim of a bureaucratic failure that has become a political flashpoint on both sides of the border.
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