U.S. President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele met at the White House on Monday to reaffirm their cooperation on immigration and crime control, with Bukele playing a pivotal role in Trump’s deportation efforts.
However, a legal and diplomatic crisis has erupted over the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly sent to El Salvador, despite a U.S. immigration court’s order to protect him from deportation due to fears of gang violence in El Salvador. The Trump administration insists that Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, but Garcia’s attorneys dispute these claims, arguing that there is no credible evidence linking him to any gang activity.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the Trump administration must facilitate his return, but both the U.S. and Salvadoran governments appear reluctant. The Trump administration, though acknowledging the error in deporting him, maintains that it is up to El Salvador to decide whether to return him, arguing that he is now under Salvadoran custody. Bukele dismissed the notion of facilitating Garcia’s return, suggesting that such a move would be akin to smuggling a “terrorist” into the U.S.
El Salvador has accepted over 250 deported individuals from the U.S. at its high-security Terrorism Confinement Center, a facility accused of human rights abuses, with the U.S. paying $6 million for the arrangement. The deportations are being carried out under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, bypassing due process. Trump even suggested sending American citizens convicted of violent crimes to El Salvador, raising legal and ethical concerns.
