El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said Monday that his government will not return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man the U.S. Supreme Court says was illegally deported from the United States despite a binding court order.
Bukele’s statement, delivered while sitting beside President Donald Trump during a joint Oval Office appearance, directly contradicts a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared Abrego Garcia’s removal unlawful and urged the federal government to “facilitate” his return.
“How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States?” Bukele said when asked if his administration would comply with the court’s directive. “Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”
El Salvador Refuses to Return Wrongfully Deported Man Despite Supreme Court Order
Trump, who has publicly supported aggressive deportation policies, backed Bukele’s refusal.
“They’d love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people,” he said, referring to reporters.
Yet, there is no criminal conviction or charge against Abrego Garcia, 34, in either the U.S. or El Salvador. Court records show that the Justice Department itself acknowledged in filings that Garcia was removed by “administrative error” — an error the Supreme Court has called “illegal.”
Despite this, White House aide Stephen Miller insisted on Fox News that “this was the right person sent to the right place.” Miller also stated that if Bukele were to return Garcia, the U.S. would deport him again immediately.
@newsweek #ElSalvador‘s president Nayib Bukele weighed in on the imprisonment in his country of wrongfully deported Maryland resident Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. he said he didn’t think he had the “power” to bring Garcia back to the U.S. #news #newsweek #politics #WhiteHouse #DonaldTrump #Bukele ♬ original sound – Newsweek
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A Flawed Deportation Based on a Hat and Hoodie
Garcia was removed to El Salvador last month in violation of a 2019 order from an immigration judge explicitly forbidding his deportation there, citing risk to his life. The judge’s ruling was based on his vulnerability, noting that Garcia had fled gang threats and lived in the U.S. without a criminal record.
The government had argued — without substantiated evidence — that Garcia was affiliated with MS-13, a claim based on a confidential informant and Garcia’s clothing, including a Chicago Bulls hoodie. Federal Judge Paula Xinis found that this claim lacked credible support and said the government’s case was “shockingly thin.”
In a recent ruling backed by the Supreme Court, Judge Xinis ordered that the U.S. take “all available steps” to return Garcia safely and immediately. But with El Salvador now refusing to cooperate, those efforts appear stalled.
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Held in Notorious Prison, Caught in Political Crossfire
Garcia is currently being held at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center — a maximum-security prison known for detaining alleged gang members without trial under President Bukele’s sweeping anti-gang measures.
The Trump administration previously struck a $6 million deal with Bukele’s government to hold deportees alleged to be members of the MS-13 or Tren de Aragua gangs, both labeled as terrorist organizations by U.S. authorities. Garcia, however, has never been charged with any crime related to these groups.
Stephen Miller claimed that any prior acknowledgment of a wrongful deportation came from “a DOJ lawyer who has since been relieved of duty, a saboteur, a Democrat.” But that statement was also echoed by U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer in filings submitted to the Supreme Court.
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What Happens Next
A federal hearing on Garcia’s case is scheduled for Tuesday. The court has requested a detailed explanation from the U.S. government on the efforts it has taken — or failed to take — to comply with the Supreme Court’s order.
Legal experts warn the case could set a dangerous precedent for international diplomacy, the rule of law, and immigrant rights.
“It’s deeply troubling when both branches of government — executive and judicial — point fingers at each other, while a man is held in a foreign prison he was never meant to be in,” said immigration attorney Marisa Gonzalez, who is not directly involved in the case.
For now, Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains detained in El Salvador, his fate caught between presidential politics, foreign diplomacy, and a legal system seemingly without a clear way forward.