Attorney General Pam Bondi expressed strong support for the Trump administration’s position regarding Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last month. Bondi stated during a press briefing that the decision to allow Abrego Garcia to return to the U.S. lies solely with El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele.
Bondi emphasized that Abrego Garcia will not be returning to the United States. “He is not coming back to our country,” she stated firmly, addressing questions about his legal status. Abrego Garcia, originally from El Salvador, had been living in Maryland until his deportation and is reportedly being held in a high-security prison in his home country. Despite the Supreme Court and lower court rulings instructing the Trump administration to facilitate his release and ensure proper deportation proceedings, Bondi maintains that it is ultimately up to El Salvador to make the final decision.
“The end of the story is, President Bukele said he was not sending him back,” she remarked. “If he wanted to send him back, we would give him a plane ride back. There was never a situation where he was going to stay in this country.”
Her remarks come on the heels of a federal court’s requirement for the government to expedite the process surrounding Abrego Garcia’s case. A Maryland judge ordered a rapid two-week discovery process regarding efforts to facilitate his return, asserting that both the Department of Homeland Security and State Department officials would need to appear under oath to explain their actions.
Bondi was clear about Abrego Garcia’s legal status, reiterating that he is not a U.S. citizen and had been living here illegally. A U.S. court previously granted him temporary protected status due to concerns about potential persecution if returned to El Salvador. However, recent court orders stress that due process protections must be adhered to for individuals facing deportation.
The Trump administration continues to hold the view that the matter rests with El Salvador. During a recent summit with President Bukele at the White House, officials reiterated this perspective, stating that decisions regarding Abrego Garcia’s status are international matters best handled by El Salvador itself.
In response to inquiries about whether to dictate terms to another country regarding its nationals, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller characterized such suggestions as presumptuous. He reminded the media that Abrego Garcia is indeed a Salvadoran citizen, and claimed that court records indicated his affiliation with the MS-13 gang.
The ongoing situation illustrates the complexities of immigration law and international relations, with a strong emphasis on maintaining respect for other nations’ judicial systems while ensuring that U.S. laws are upheld.
