El Salvador President Dismisses Proposal to Repatriate Deported Salvadoran Undocumented Immigrant Tied to MS-13 Residing in Maryland
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:43 PM – Monday, April 14, 2025
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has announced he will not send Kilmar Armando Abrego García back to the United States after his deportation to his home country.
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This follows a Supreme Court ruling that urged the Trump administration to take “steps to facilitate” the potential return of the alleged MS-13 member living in Maryland. Nonetheless, Bukele stated on Monday that he lacks the capacity to return Abrego García to the U.S.
Moreover, Salvadoran officials, including Bukele himself, are not required to follow U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
El Salvador retains its sovereignty with its own legal systems and laws.
Decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court are relevant only within U.S. borders. Although there might be extradition agreements between the U.S. and El Salvador, compliance with such requests is not mandatory and relies on Salvadoran legislation, rather than U.S. court orders. The United States can request actions such as extradition from El Salvador, but it ultimately remains the prerogative of Salvadoran authorities, including the president and the legal framework.
Benjamin Osorio, the attorney for Abrego García, expressed to ABC News his “serious concerns” regarding Bukele’s statement. He argued that both President Trump and Bukele are “incentivized” not to allow Abrego García’s return.
“Bukele’s doing this because that’s obviously what Trump wants, right?” Osorio remarked. “Bringing [Abrego García] back would trigger a media storm, bringing his story to light.”
Bukele provided further insights on the matter.
“I hope you are not suggesting that I smuggle terrorists into the United States,” Bukele remarked while alongside President Trump in the Oval Office. “Of course, I won’t do that.”
“The question is absurd,” he added. “I do not possess the authority to return him to the United States.”
Kilmar Abrego García and over 260 other alleged gang members were transferred last month to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a high-security facility in Tecoluca, El Salvador, under the provisions of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.
Meanwhile, Abrego García’s family disputes the claims of the Trump administration in court that he is a “confirmed ranking member of the MS-13 gang according to reliable sources.”
“He was illegally in our country,” stated U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday, referencing Abrego García, who unlawfully entered the U.S. in 2011. “It’s up to El Salvador to decide if they want to bring him back; that’s not our decision.”
“The Supreme Court stated that if El Salvador was willing to return him, we would facilitate it, which means providing a plane,” she elaborated.
Bondi cited two immigration court decisions to substantiate Abrego García’s alleged ties to MS-13. He was denied bond in the initial ruling on April 24th, 2019, due in part to evidence confirming his membership in MS-13.
Additionally, “in December, a Board of Immigration Appeals decision upheld the bond denial but made no judgment on the claim that Abrego García was affiliated with MS-13,” reported The Post.
Abrego García’s asylum request, which cited potential persecution from groups like Barrio 18, was under review when an immigration judge barred the federal government from deporting him.
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed reporters, emphasizing that it is “the president of the United States, not a court, who dictates U.S. foreign policy.”
“I’m not sure where the confusion lies,” Rubio commented. “This individual is a citizen of El Salvador. He was illegally present in the U.S. and has been returned to his home country. That’s where deportations happen—back to one’s country of origin.”
A federal judge in Maryland had originally set a deadline for Abrego García to return to the U.S. by April 7th.
Even though that deadline is no longer applicable, the Supreme Court instructed the administration in an order issued April 10th to “’facilitate’ Abrego García’s release from custody in El Salvador and ensure his case is managed as if he had not been wrongfully sent to El Salvador.”
Lower courts are expected to show “deference owed to the Executive Branch in foreign affairs,” as per the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“It’s rather bold of the American media to suggest that [Trump] would dictate to El Salvador on how to manage their own citizens,” remarked Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, on Monday.
President Trump did not publicly comment on the specifics regarding Abrego García but indicated a willingness to broaden deportation efforts with El Salvador.
Since the order from October 2019 remains active, a Trump administration lawyer had mistakenly claimed in a March 31st filing that the situation with Abrego García was due to a “clerical error” and an “administrative mistake.” However, Miller denied this assertion on Monday, clarifying that the Justice Department attorney who submitted that brief was subsequently removed from the case by Attorney General Pam Bondi, emphasizing that Abrego García’s deportation was deliberate.
“This is a major fact that many of you have misreported,” Miller told journalists before Bukele’s discussion with Trump. “No one was mistakenly sent anywhere.”
“The only error was that a [Justice Department] lawyer included an inaccurate statement in a legal document, and that person has since been relieved,” he added. “[Abrego García] is an illegal alien. He was deported to El Salvador.”
BOOM! Top Trump advisor Stephen Miller just went BERSERK for 3 minutes straight on Fox over the media narrative that Trump must bring home Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
Miller perfectly debunked this ENTIRE claim that Garcia’s deportation was an “error.” This entire… pic.twitter.com/TfGa1VjvpS
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 14, 2025
Masterclass. Everyone needs to watch Stephen Miller’s real-time factcheck on the truth about the MS-13 illegal gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia that was deported to El Salvador.
pic.twitter.com/KrPBBmlSdv
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 14, 2025
The administration further argued in a petition submitted on Sunday that the Supreme Court’s ruling did not place any obligation on the U.S. to pressure El Salvador into releasing Abrego García.
“Taking ‘all available steps to facilitate’ the return of Abrego García is best interpreted as working to remove any domestic barriers that may otherwise obstruct the alien’s ability to return here,” DOJ lawyers stated in a court filing on Sunday.
“Indeed, no other interpretation of ‘facilitate’ is plausible — or constitutional — in this context,” they continued.
Online users have taken to X to express their views and share additional news on the contentious issue.
“Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has just requested a meeting with El Salvador’s President Bukele to press for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran prison. Van Hollen declared that if Kilmar is not returned, he will travel to El Salvador this week himself,” stated one user.
“I don’t recall this level of outrage from Democrats concerning American citizens held hostage abroad, who have since been brought home under the current administration,” remarked another user.
9-0 SCOTUS ruling did NOT order Trump to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back.
SCOTUS cannot mandate El Salvador to take any actions.
SCOTUS even cautioned the “judge” about overstepping her authority. pic.twitter.com/WvYHz5EoT9
— Abraham Stein (@AbrahamStein8) April 14, 2025
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