Deported Man Will Not Be Sent Back to US, Salvadoran President Says

White House officials said the deportee is an illegal alien and that El Salvador can decide how to handle him.

President Donald Trump meets with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House on April 14, 2025. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele told reporters at the White House on April 14 that an illegal alien deported back to his home country of El Salvador will not be returned to the United States.

“You’re suggesting I smuggle a terrorist into the United States,” Bukele said during the Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump. “I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was arrested in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 12 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Allegedly a member of MS-13, he has resided in El Salvador’s Terrorist Confinement Center for more than a month.

Attorneys for the federal government blamed an “administrative error” for Abrego Garcia’s deportation, according to a recently released court ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled on April 10 that the federal government should help “facilitate” his return, but the order acknowledged that the government could not be forced to bring him back, given that the individual is in the custody of a foreign nation.

White House officials said Abrego Garcia was an illegal immigrant and highlighted two immigration court rulings that declared him a member of MS-13.

“That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said during Monday’s meeting. “That’s not up to us.”

With Trump’s January executive order designating the gang as a foreign terrorist organization, its members are now prioritized for deportation, according to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

“A district court judge tried to tell the administration that they had to kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here,” Miller said during the meeting.

District Judge Paula Xinis on April 6 ordered the federal government to return Abrego Garcia, describing the deportation in her ruling as “wholly lawless.”

The two leaders signaled a strengthened commitment to the strategic alliance between their respective nations.

Described by White House officials as a “working visit,” the meeting focused on economic and national security collaboration regarding migration policies.

Bukele celebrated the transformation of El Salvador from the “murder capital of the world” to the “safest country in the Western hemisphere.”

On its website, the U.S. State Department cites a reduction in violent crime and gang activity in El Salvador as a reason it updated the country on April 8 to a level one travel advisory rating, the safest such designation.

“You cannot just free the criminals and think crime is going to go down magically,” Bukele said, suggesting Abrego Garcia will remain in custody. “We’re not very fond of releasing criminals in our country.”

Trump negotiated an arrangement, soon after taking office for a second term, to house deportees deemed dangerous terrorists in El Salvador’s supermax prison, capable of holding 40,000 inmates.

“It has been wonderful for us to be able to have somewhere to send the worst of the worst, and someone to partner with,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during the meeting.

“And we’d like to continue that partnership, because it has been a powerful message of consequences.”

The Central American president said the relationship is mutually beneficial.

“I’m happy to be here, honored, and eager to help,” Bukele said.

Protesters gathered near the White House in advance of the meeting, some holding signs that said, “due process” and calling for more legal protections for prospective deportees.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Abrego Garcia’s attorney for comment.