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By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant
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El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Monday that he did not have the power to send a Maryland father back to the United States after he was accidentally deported.
During an Oval Office news conference with President Donald Trump and top officials, Bukele was asked if he "planned to return Garcia?"
Bukele replied, "How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous."
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Under court orders to facilitate his return, the Trump administration provided an update on the status of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on Saturday, confirming he's "alive and secure" and is under the "sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador."
Why It Matters
Abrego Garcia, 29, was sent to El Salvador on March 15, despite a 2019 court order prohibiting the return to his home country for fear of persecution by a gang there. U.S. officials have repeatedly said he is a member of MS-13, despite providing little evidence to support the claim.
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What To Know
Bukele's arrival in Washington, D.C., came after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return in a 9-0 ruling last week.
Despite this, Cabinet members and other White House officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, said Monday morning that the ruling had been in the administration's favor and did not compel them to bring Abrego Garcia back.
In the Oval Office, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that if El Salvador wanted to release Abrego Garcia, then the U.S. would provide a plane to collect him from the high-security CECOT prison.
When the Salvadoran President was asked about returning one of his citizens to the U.S., he asked how he could return a terrorist.
"I don't have the power to return him to the United States," Bukele stated.
Miller told reporters that Abrego Garcia did have a removal order in place from 2019, which meant he was not allowed to remain in the U.S., but did not refer to the order from an immigration judge preventing his removal to El Salvador.
He then went on to repeat the MS-13 membership claim, stating that the group which "rapes little girls, murders women, murders children" and that if Abrego Garcia were "your neighbor, you would move right away."
Abrego Garcia's attorneys and wife have attested to his innocence, stating the father had worked hard for his children and does not have a criminal record.
In its latest update to the District Court in Maryland, the Department of Justice said Abrego Garcia was "alive and secure" within CECOT but provided no physical evidence as such.
The Salvadoran, who arrived in the U.S. in around 2011, was among 200-plus immigrants flown to CECOT on March 15, with multiple lawsuits now challenging the move after some on board the flights were labeled as members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua because of their tattoos.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Oval Office: "First and foremost, he was illegally in our country, he had been illegally in our country... Right now, additional paperwork had needed to be done, that's up to El Salvador if they want to return him."
Secretary of State Marco Rubi, in the Oval Office: "The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the President of the United States, not by a court."
What's Next
If both the U.S. and El Salvador say they do not have the power to return Abrego Garcia, his fate remains uncertain. Department of Justice officials must provide another daily update to the District Court in Maryland later Monday.
Update 04/14/25 1:29 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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