El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in the Oval Office on Monday he would not return Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a native Salvadoran who was living in Maryland until the U.S. illegally deported him last month — to the United States, as Trump administration officials vehemently argued they were in no position to force the decision.
“‘How can I return him to the United States? Am I going to smuggle him? Of course I’m not going to do it,’ Bukele said while sitting beside President Donald Trump. “The question is preposterous.”
“The Supreme Court last week said the Trump administration must ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, while leaving in place much of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order that specifically required his “return” to the country.
“The president deferred to his top administration officials Monday, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, senior adviser Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to field questions about the administration’s intentions, in what appeared to be an orchestrated effort to deliver a forceful, consistent response. Bondi, sitting near Trump, said it is up to El Salvador to decide if they want to return him.
“ ‘That’s not up to us,” she said, pointing to the Supreme Court ruling. If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.’
“Rubio also chimed in, suggesting that the ruling affirmed the power of the executive: “The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court,” he said. “And no court in the United States has a right to conduct the foreign policy of the United States. . . .
“But critics and legal experts have argued that the case sets a dangerous precedent of allowing the executive branch the expansive and chilling power to imprison individuals in different countries without due process. . . .” — El Salvador Won’t Return Wrongly Deported Man, Myah Ward, Politico, 4/14/25 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: Despite the title of this article, it is not self-evident that this man was “wrongly deported.” The weight of evidence suggests otherwise. As senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller pointed out, Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien—something no one disputes—and as an illegal alien he is subject to deportation. Those who oppose his deportation grudgingly acknowledge this reality, but maintain that a “withholding order” by an immigration ruling judge allowed him to stay in the U.S. to await a secision on his petition for asylum. That consisted of his claim that he faced harm from a rival criminal gang if he returned to El Salvador.
Miller strongly rebutted this argument against Garcia’s deportation. He noted that Garcia no longer faces that threat because the gang that made it no longer exists. More importantly, Miller observed that Garcia had received a “final order of removal” which legally overrides a “withholding order.”
The Supreme Court did rule, probably inappropriately, that the Trump Administration should “facilitate” Garcia’s return to the United States. The reality is that our country has no way to do this while still respecting the sovereignty of El Salvador. That country, citing his gang ties, has imprisoned Garcia and refuses to return him. No court has the authority to tell a president how to conduct foreign policy.
It is most ironic how the advocates for illegal aliens, i.e., foreign lawbreakers, have become such sticklers for the due process of law. Actually, as Vice President J.D. Vance observed, their only concern for law is figuring out how to twist and manipulate to undermine immigration law enforcement, and thus make it impossible to deport any significant number of illegal aliens. As Vance observed, they use a “fake legal process” to accomplish what they can’t do politically.