Kilmar Abrego Garcia won’t be returned to the US as Salvador president Nayib Bukele said the idea is preposterous to him.
The White House meeting between President Donald Trump and El Salvador president Nayib Bukele Monday made one thing clear that
Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia
who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador won’t be returned to the US. After this hit the headlines and the Trump administration had to face brickbats for it, the White House slammed the media and said describing Kilmar as a Maryland man is wrong as he is an illegal immigrant.
What is the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
On March 12 this year, Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen but who was living in the US for the past 14 years, was detained by ICE and was deported to El Salvador as the Trump administration identified him as a gang member of MS-13. Garcia arrived in the US illegally in 2011 as he fled persecution by gangs. An immigration judge ruled in 2019 that he couldn’t be deported because of the risk of gang-related persecution.
As the case reached the court after he was deported, the court said there was not adequate evidence to prove that he was a member of MS-13. The Trump administration labeled the deportation an “administrative error”. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled on April 4, 2025, that his deportation was illegal and ordered his return, calling the action “wholly lawless.” The Supreme Court upheld this on April 10, 2025, directing the government to “facilitate” his return.
Why Garcia won’t return to the US
Attorney General Pam Bondi said US would send a plane to El Salvador to take Garcia if El Salvador releases him from the prison. “Additional paperwork had needed to be done. That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us. The Supreme Court ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him … we would facilitate it: meaning, provide a plane,” Bondi said in front of Trump and Bukele.
Nayib Bukele said it was a preposterous idea to release a prisoner. He also said he does not have the right to release a prisoner and then sneak him back to the United States. “I hope you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States,” Bukele said. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”
