El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said Monday he would not return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, defying a U.S. Supreme Court order that called on the Trump administration to facilitate the man’s reentry.
“I mean, the question is preposterous,” Bukele said during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, when asked about sending Abrego Garcia back from the Salvadoran prison where he is currently held. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” he added. “I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”
Abrego Garcia was deported in what U.S. officials have described as an “administrative error.”
The Justice Department argued in a court filing Sunday that, based on a recent Supreme Court order largely upholding a lower court’s decision, it is not obligated to coordinate with El Salvador’s government as long as it removes any U.S.-side barriers preventing Garcia’s return.
In the seven-page filing, the administration maintained that federal courts lack the authority to compel the executive branch to communicate with foreign governments.DOJ lawyers said interpreting the word “facilitate” to mean anything beyond eliminating domestic obstacles would be both legally unsound and unconstitutional.
“This interpretation aligns with the Supreme Court’s order, established executive precedent, and judicial limits on federal power,” the filing said. Expanding that definition, it argued, would overstep the separation of powers, as courts cannot order the executive to engage in foreign relations, which the brief described as “the exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters Monday that the decision ultimately rests with El Salvador. “If the country chooses to do so, then the U.S. would provide a plane,” she said, referencing the Supreme Court ruling that allows for his return if El Salvador agrees. “This is international matters, foreign affairs,” she added.
Bukele was warmly received by Trump, who called him a “fantastic” president and praised his efforts on immigration. The two leaders highlighted a roughly $6 million agreement under which El Salvador has accepted hundreds of U.S. migrants into its detention system.
Joining Monday’s meeting were several members of Trump’s Cabinet, including Bondi, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, a key figure behind Trump’s immigration agenda.
