Trump says he has not talked to El Salvador's Bukele
1/5/2025 5:44
U.S. President Donald
Trump on Wednesday said he has not spoken to El Salvador's
president about returning a man mistakenly deported from
Maryland, and the top U.S. diplomat refused to comment on
reported contacts with El Salvadoran authorities.
Asked if he thought El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele
would reject a request from him seeking Kilmar Abrego Garcia's
return, Trump said: "I don't know. I haven't spoken to him."
"I really leave that to the lawyers," he told reporters at
the White House.
In an
ABC News interview
on Tuesday, Trump said he could help return Abrego Garcia
with a phone call but would not, despite the U.S. Supreme
Court's April 10 order for his administration to "facilitate"
his release.
Trump's administration
has argued
that only El Salvador can act, and cited Bukele's comments
in an April 14 meeting with Trump that he would not return
Abrego Garcia.
On Wednesday, CNN reported that U.S. Secretary of State
Marco Rubio and Bukele were in contact. The New York Times
separately reported that a U.S. diplomatic note was sent to
Salvadoran officials inquiring about Abrego Garcia's return but
that Bukele's government said no.
Rubio, speaking alongside Trump at a Cabinet meeting at
the White House, declined to comment and said he would not
disclose any talks to the courts.
"The conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the
President of the United States and the executive branch, not
some judge," Rubio told reporters. "We will conduct foreign
policy appropriately if we need to, but I'll never discuss it."
Representatives for the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security and El Salvador's presidential office did not respond
to requests for comment on the reported contacts.
The U.S. District Court judge in Maryland handling the
case on Wednesday ordered expedited discovery and other actions
to be completed by mid-May.
Abrego Garcia, 29, a Salvadoran migrant who was living in
Maryland with a work permit, was detained by U.S. immigration
officers in March and questioned about alleged gang ties before
being sent on one of three deportation flights to El Salvador
with Venezuelan migrants despite a protective order allowing him
to remain in the U.S.
Legal experts and Democrats say the case illustrates the
risks to everyone's constitutional right to due process and
raises questions about Trump's intentions on whether to comply
with the courts, a third co-equal branch of government.
The White House has repeated the unproven accusation that
Abrego Garcia is part of criminal gang MS-13, which the
administration has designated a foreign terrorist group. His
lawyers deny any gang affiliation, saying he left El Salvador at
age 16 to escape such violence and received a protective order
in 2019 to continue living in the U.S.
"If Donald Trump can ignore court orders and trample over
the rights of one man, he threatens the rights of everyone who
lives in the United States of America," said U.S. Senator Chris
Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat. a day after he pressed Trump to
comply with legal orders.
The Republican president has touted his immigration
crackdown as he marked his 100th day in office this week.
While immigration has been Trump's strongest area of
support, Reuters/Ipsos polling showed respondents split on his
handling of the issue. Separate Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos
polling found more Americans say Abrego Garcia should be
returned.
Lawyers for other migrants deported in the March flights
have also urged courts to order the facilitation of their return
from El Salvador.
Rubio on Wednesday told reporters the Trump
administration was also seeking other countries to take deported
migrants. It earlier announced a deal with
Uzbekistan
. Another U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered the administration
to
ensure due process
for migrants held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
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