The White House “intends to comply” with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has said he does not plan to send Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back to the United States, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
“He is an El Salvadorian national,” Leavitt said. “That is his home country. That is where he belongs, and the administration intends to comply with what President Bukele said. … He does not intend to send that individual back.”
The Trump administration initially acknowledged that it mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father, to El Salvador’s terrorist prison in March, calling it an “administrative error.” The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the United States earlier this month. Since, the district judge overseeing the case has excoriated the administration for doing “nothing” to that effect, suggesting she could hold the administration in contempt.
Now, the White House is taking issue with its own language, rebranding the deportation as an “oversight” and dismissing the legal basis of Abrego Garcia’s protected status.
“I don’t accept the term error,” Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said.“There was an oversight. There was a withholding order. But things have changed, the facts surrounding the withholding order has changed.”
Homan was referencing an immigration judge’s 2019 order that disallowed Abrego Garcia’s deportation back to El Salvador, citing the fear of gang violence.
“He is now a terrorist,” Homan said. (The administration had offered unproven allegations tying Abrego Garcia to MS-13, citing tattoos and his wearing of a Chicago Bulls hat.)
“The gang he was fearing for being removed to El Salvador no longer exists, so the facts around that case are totally different,” Homan continued. “I’ll let the lawyers litigate that.”
Homan made the remarks alongside Leavitt at a press conference touting the administration’s efforts to increase deportations and lower border crossings — the first in a series meant to highlight administration accomplishments in Trump’s first 100 days.
“I will tell you what the president of El Salvador told all of you in the Oval Office,” Leavitt said. “El Salvador does not intend to smuggle a designated foreign terrorist back into the United States.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen visted Abrego Garcia earlier this month, telling reporters “He’s obviously in a terrible situation” and he has “experienced trauma” during his stay at the prison.
Asked if it is correct Trump has had “no talks” with Bukele about facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return, Leavitt said “the president of El Salvador has made this quite clear.”
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Mark Alfred is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.