President Donald Trump sat down with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele at the White House on April 14, 2025. The meeting took place in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C. The two leaders were expected to talk about several important matters between their countries. One key topic on the agenda was the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who has been jailed in El Salvador since March 15. Yahoo!
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador made it clear he won’t send Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States. Bukele said this during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. He called the idea of returning Abrego Garcia “absurd” and added, “I don’t have the power to do that.”
Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident and father, worked as a sheet metal laborer. He had a legal work permit in the U.S. but was suddenly deported. A court ruled this action was wrong and ordered the U.S. government to help bring him back. The Supreme Court also said his case must be treated as if he had never left the country.
Still, Bukele refused. “We’re not letting terrorists loose in our country,” he said. He also told Trump, “To free millions, you have to imprison some.” Abrego Garcia now sits in a prison in El Salvador known for holding gang members from groups like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
The Trump administration claimed he was part of MS-13, but no proof was given in court. His lawyers pointed out that the gang chapter he’s linked to is in New York — a place Abrego Garcia has never lived.
A federal judge called the situation “extremely troubling” and ordered the Trump team to share updates about what they were doing to bring him back. The Trump administration said he was “alive and secure” but being held under El Salvador’s laws.
Stephen Miller, a top policy advisor, said they couldn’t force El Salvador to send him back. “He had a final deportation order,” Miller explained. “It’s now up to El Salvador.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi backed this view. “That’s their call,” she said during the meeting with Bukele.
Back in the U.S., Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, spoke out in Washington. She shared her pain and urged action. She said her husband fled El Salvador in 2011 to escape gang violence and had been living in the U.S. legally since then.
The Trump administration admitted that deporting him was an “administrative error.” A judge even ordered the deportation plane to return, but it had already landed in El Salvador. Bukele later mocked the situation online with a laughing emoji and the message, “Oopsie… Too late.”
Meanwhile, Democratic senators demanded answers. Senator Chris Van Hollen asked to meet Bukele and said he would travel to El Salvador if needed. Senator Jeanne Shaheen also criticized the situation, saying it violated the rule of law and human rights.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed more accused criminals had been sent to El Salvador recently. He said ten more men tied to gangs were deported on April 12.
Even after all this, Bukele has opened his prison to house over 270 men that the U.S. believes are gang members. Abrego Garcia remains behind bars, while legal battles and political pressure continue in both countries.
