A Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison will not be returned to the U.S., El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said during a White House visit Monday.

President Donald Trump smiled with approval as Bukele said Kilmar Abrego Garcia would not be released in El Salvador or to the U.S.

“How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States?” Bukele said while sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office. “Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous. I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

Last week, the Supreme Court voted 9-0 to uphold a lower court ruling stating the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.

Bukele’s decision angered Democratic Maryland lawmakers, and one — Sen. Chris Van Hollen — told reporters he would travel to El Salvador this week if he is not permitted to meet the El Salvadoran leader in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, a former Prince George’s County prosecutor who is Abrego Garcia’s congressional representative, said it appeared the Trump administration is “trying to force a constitutional crisis” by defying a Supreme Court ruling to work for the return of Abrego Garcia, 29, a father and sheet metal worker, home.

Bukele met Monday with Trump and top administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said: “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him.”

The El Salvadoran leader said Abrego Garcia wouldn’t be released to the U.S. or in his own country because “we’re not very fond of releasing terrorists.”

The Trump administration and other Republicans have accused Abrego Garcia of being an MS-13 gang member, but the mistakenly deported man has not been convicted of any related crimes in the U.S. or El Salvador, according to court records. Though Garcia is not a U.S. citizen, a federal judge had granted him a protective order to remain in the country.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia ‘essentially kidnapped,’ Van Hollen says

Van Hollen said in Greenbelt that Congress — not just the executive branch — held sway over El Salvador because it approves foreign aid.

“I believe the president of El Salvador will recognize why it is important to allow him to return to the United States of America,” said the senator in response to reporters’ questions after touring the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which is facing deep budget cuts. “The United States and El Salvador have had a strong relationship for many years. The United States provides lots of support to El Salvador.”

Van Hollen said he believed Bukele “will reconsider when he understands the full story of this illegal detention. I don’t think he wants to be the president who has essentially kidnapped a United States citizen.”

Bukele’s visit Monday came as U.S. officials continue to dispute a court order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, where the Trump administration is holding hundreds of people facing deportation from the U.S.

A federal judge ordered that the Trump administration facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return after U.S. immigration officials mistakenly deported him due to an “administrative error.” The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld that order and ruled that the Trump administration must take steps to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.

Abrego Garcia’s wife tearfully pleaded for his return last week and urged Americans to “remember his name.” “Kilmar, if you can hear me, I’m still fighting for you,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura said at the Capitol.

The Trump administration has declined to disclose what action, if any, they are taking to return him. They also continued to argue in a Sunday court filing that they couldn’t be ordered to do much more.

“The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in the court filing.

Lawyers also noted Bukele’s upcoming meeting with Trump, saying that officials “will continue to share updates as appropriate.”

“Any further intrusion into this sensitive process — and any directive from the Court to take action against the nation of El Salvador — would be inconsistent with the care counseled by the Supreme Court,” they wrote.

The Supreme Court had ruled in a 9-0 decision that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had properly ordered the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. but noted that Xinis was limited in how much she could order the executive branch to “effectuate” his return. Xinis removed the word “effectuate” from a subsequent order.

Lawyers are scheduled to appear before Xinis again Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt for a follow-up hearing the judge’s order.

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