The White House asserted Tuesday there was no scenario in which a Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador has made national headlines and spurred court battles would end up living a “peaceful life” back in the United States.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed exasperation over media coverage of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national whom administration officials acknowledged in a court filing they mistakenly deported. Officials have since changed their tune on that matter, and the lawyer who wrote of the “administrative error” has since been put on leave.
Leavitt also indicated Abrego Garcia would simply be deported again if he was returned to the U.S.
“Deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result. There is never going to be a world in which this is an individual who is going to live a peaceful life in Maryland,” Leavitt told reporters at a briefing.
“Because he is a foreign terrorist and an MS-13 gang member. Not only have we confirmed that, [El Salvador] President [Nayib] Bukele yesterday in the Oval Office confirmed that as well,” Leavitt continued. “So he went back to his home country, where he will face consequences for his gang affiliation and his engagement in human trafficking. I’m not sure what is so difficult about this for everyone in the media to understand.”
Abrego Garcia’s family has asserted he is not a member of MS-13 like the government has claimed, but rather fled from El Salvador as a teen to escape gang violence. The government’s assertion is based on a tip from a confidential informant claiming he was involved with the gang in New York, though Abrego Garcia has never lived there.
The Supreme Court last week determined the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia. So far, there’s been no indication that the administration has taken any action that could help lead to his return.
During an Oval Office meeting Monday with the president of El Salvador, Trump administration officials argued it was up to El Salvador whether to return Abrego Garcia.
Bukele, who has forged a partnership with Trump by agreeing to take in deported immigrants and house them in a notorious prison, indicated he had no plans to send Abrego Garcia back.
“How could I return him to the United States? I smuggle him to the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous,” Bukele said.
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