Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said Monday that he will not return a Salvadoran man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador from the United States, despite a U.S. Supreme Court order instructing the U.S. government to facilitate the man's return.
"How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States?" Bukele said during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House. "Of course I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous."
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was among the roughly 200 individuals deported to El Salvador in March as part of a deal in which Bukele agreed to detain alleged gang members in exchange for a hefty sum. But Abrego Garcia is not a gang member, his lawyer says; he lived in the U.S. for more than 14 years, is married to a U.S. citizen, and is the father of three children. He has no criminal convictions in either the U.S. or El Salvador.
