El Salvador Says It Will Not Return Man Mistakenly Deported By US Despite Supreme Court Order

El Salvador President Bukele refuses to return Kilmar Ábrego García, mistakenly deported from the US, despite a Supreme Court ruling.

The Trump administration argues they can't facilitate García's return and praises Bukele for a partnership allowing deportations of alleged gang members to El Salvador.

Source : X

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has said that his country will not return Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported by the US to his home country and is being held in a notorious mega-prison.

Bukele made the comment on Monday during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, reported BBC. 

Last week the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must "facilitate" the return of Mr Ábrego García, who lives in Maryland with his family and was granted protection from deportation by a court in 2019.

The Trump administration argued it could not bring García home, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said it is "up to El Salvador if they want to return him." 

Trump Praises Bukele

The US President has praised his Salvadoran counterpart for a new partnership under which the US can deport people alleged to be gang members to the Central American nation. Garcia is among 238 Venezuelans and 23 Salvadorans who have been deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador's Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (Cecot). 

However, Garcia's lawyer has said that he is not a gang member. 

On Sunday, another 10 alleged gang members were sent to El Salvador, said US Secretary of State March Rubio. The US suspects them to be the members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs, designated as "foreign terrorist organisations" by Trump. 

Responding to an earlier ruling by the US Supreme Court directing the administration to facilitate Garcia's return to the US, lawyers wrote on Sunday that the issue was a matter of foreign policy, and outside the control of the court. 

Last week Trump reported that if the Supreme Court said "Bring somebody back, I would do that." 

'Administrative Error' 

The Trump administration has conceded that Garcia was deported due to an "administrative error". However, it also claimed that he is a member of the MS-13 gang - something his lawyer denies.

The court ordered officials to provide daily updates on steps being taken to bring Garcia back to the US.