Minara Helen: US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has vowed to “immediately deport” Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he were sent back to the United States from a notorious El Salvador prison.
Abrego Garcia, 29, has been imprisoned in his native El Salvador for nearly seven weeks after the Trump administration mistakenly deported him from the US, alleging he was an MS-13 gang member. Noem told CBS News on Tuesday that Abrego Garcia’s return was up to El Salvador.
“[Abrego Garcia] is not under our control. He is an El Salvador citizen. He is home there in his country. If he were to be brought back to the United States of America, we would immediately deport him again,” Noem said.
“This individual is not under the United States of America’s jurisdiction and he is not one of our citizens. He is home in his home country. And that’s up to that country to decide what to do.”
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has said he does not have the power to return Abrego Garcia, saying it would be “preposterous” to “smuggle a terrorist into the United States.” Abrego Garcia lived in the US for around 14 years, during which he worked construction, has a wife and three children, according to court records.
Trump administration officials said he was deported based on a 2019 accusation from Maryland police he was an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia denied the allegation and was never charged with a crime.
A US immigration judge subsequently shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs.
The Trump administration described his deportation as “an administrative error” but insisted he was an MS-13 member.
A federal judge on Wednesday again directed the Trump administration to provide information about its efforts to comply with her order to retrieve Abrego Garcia.
US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland set May deadlines for officials to provide sworn testimony on anything they have done to return him to the US.
Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return him on April 4. The Supreme Court ruled April 10 that the administration must work to bring him back.
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