El Salvador President Nayib Bukele told reporters during a meeting with President Trump that he would not return an alleged MS-13 gang member deported to his country. “How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said. “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” he continued. WATCH: .@nayibbukele: "The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States." pic.twitter.com/PyrXqO4bvJ — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 14, 2025 NBC News reports: Trump then turned to Bukele and said of the assembled reporters: “They’d love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people.” He also said he wants Bukele to take in as many criminals “as possible.” Garcia has never been charged criminally in the U.S. or El Salvador, according to court filings. Justice Department officials have acknowledged that Garcia should not have been sent to El Salvador because of an immigration judge’s 2019 order barring him from being sent there, and the Supreme Court has called his removal illegal and directed the administration to “facilitate” his return while being respectful of the president’s authority. In the Oval Office meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he didn’t understand “the confusion” over the order, arguing “the foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court, and no court in the United States has a right to conduct a foreign policy of the United States.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “If they want to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane. That’s up for El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us.” The exchanges came shortly after top White House adviser Stephen Miller told Fox News that Garcia was “sent to the right place.” Additional footage: Pres. Trump and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele were pressed repeatedly on what's next regarding the wrongful deportation of a migrant from Maryland. "I don't have the power to return him to the United States," Bukele said. https://t.co/LgoIlbyc8z pic.twitter.com/82Kgn7wC8G — ABC News (@ABC) April 14, 2025 “An immigration judge in 2019 found Garcia to be affiliated with MS-13, an allegation he denies,” NBC News stated. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) requested a meeting with Bukele to discuss Garcia’s detention. “I write to urgently request a meeting with President Bukele during his current visit to the United States to discuss the illegal detention of my constituent, Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen wrote to Salvadoran Ambassador Milena Mayorga. Sen. Van Hollen requests a meeting with Salvadoran President Bukele. He asks for the urgent return of a wrongfully deported Maryland resident, following a 9-0 Supreme Court decision. pic.twitter.com/W8phs76WWg — FactPost (@factpostnews) April 14, 2025 A closer look: Per CBS News: U.S. leaders in El Salvador reported Saturday that Abrego Garcia is alive and secure. He is being held at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), where the U.S. has already sent more than 200 Venezuelan men accused of being in gangs. Abrego Garcia was deported to a Salvadoran prison on March 15, despite having a “withholding of removal” protection order that he received in 2019. After that order, he was released from custody and returned to his home in Prince George’s County. On April 1, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was illegal and ordered the government to “facilitate” his return by April 7. But the Trump administration appealed the order to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court, which upheld Xinis’s order. The Department of Justice then sought a Supreme Court Stay, which was granted by Chief Justice John Roberts, pausing the return deadline. On April 10, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision, upholding Judge Xinis’s order requiring the Trump administration to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. According to court documents, ICE admitted that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was due to an “administrative error,” but initially did not take action to return him to the U.S. Abrego Garcia has no criminal record and has never been charged with a crime in the U.S. or El Salvador. However, ICE officials argue that Abrego Garcia was a danger to the community and an active gang member in MS-13. According to Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, the only evidence of his alleged gang ties stems from a confidential witness and the fact that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie at the time of his arrest.