Attorney General Pam Bondy has doubled the Trump administration’s claim that it would be “until El Salvador” whether Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal Maryland immigrant who was unfairly ousted last month, could return to the United States.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference Wednesday, Bondi repeatedly reiterated previous claims as to whether his country chose to return Abrego Garcia to the United States, despite his acceptance of his country being deported, and whether El Salvador President Naive Buquer admitted that he was deported.
“He’s not back in our country,” Bondy told Fox News Wednesday, responding to questions about his legal status during the briefing.
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian citizen who lived in Maryland before his exile in March. Now he is believed to be held in the largest security prison in his home country in his vast country. Both the federal and Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to “promote” his release and return to the United States for a proper deportation lawsuit.
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Attorney General Pam Bondy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Marco Rubio, are sitting nearby as President Donald Trump meets El Salvador President Naive Buquere in the White House oval office. (Get McNamee/Getty Images)
Bondi revealed on Wednesday that they are looking straight at the issue in Bukel’s range.
“President Bukel said he wouldn’t send him back. That’s the end of the story,” she said. “If he wanted to send him back, we’d fly him back. There was no situation where he was planning to stay in this country.
Her remarks come after the Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court order that required the government to “promote” the release of Abrego Garcia from custody in El Salvador and “ensure that his case will be processed if he is not inappropriately sent to El Salvador.”
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Maryland ordered Trump’s attorneys and plaintiffs to carry out a “inspiring” two-week discovery process that was carried out to promote Abrego Garcia’s return.
“Cancel your holidays and cancel other appointments,” US District Judge Paula Sinis told both parties on Tuesday, clearing the path of what she said would be a very fast time slot.
“There’s no tolerance for gamemanship or grand excellence,” she said of the process.
Bondi also emphasized that Abrego Garcia was not a US citizen and lived “illegally in our country in El Salvador.”
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The prison officer is guarding the cell of the largest security prison centre terrorist forced housing centre in Tecolca, San Vicente, El Salvador, on April 4, 2025. (Alex Peña/Getty Images)
That’s not a controversy. A US court recognized Abrego Garcia’s temporary protected status in 2019 and found him back to face “a clear probability of future persecution” and that “the Salvadoran authorities could not or could not protect him.”
Neither the Supreme Court’s decision nor the lower court’s orders require Abrego Garcia to remain in the United States. The court emphasizes that certain due-process protections under the U.S. Constitution must be granted, including habeas and other measures that allow individuals who are planning to deportate, to challenge removal in court.
It wasn’t this week that Trump officials suggested that El Salvador should have final say on Abrego Garcia’s position.
They also made the claim Monday when President Donald Trump hosted Buquere at the White House for a bilateral summit.
Kilmer Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador prison last month. (Fox News)
When asked about Abrego Garcia by a reporter, Bondi and other ministers said the issue was left to the Buquere administration.
“If they want to return him, it’s up to El Salvador, and that’s not up to us,” Bondy said. “The Supreme Court ruled precedents if El Salvador wanted to return him,” she continued. “This is an international issue, foreign affairs.”
Bondi added, “If they want to return him, we will promote it – meaning we will provide an airplane.”
El Salvador welcomed hundreds of US immigrants, including more than 200 Venezuelan citizens who were suddenly removed in March under the Alien Enemy Act of 1798, and accused members of Salvador’s gang MS-13 under a $6 million deal with the United States earlier this year.
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Steven Miller, deputy Chief of Staff of the White House, doubled Bondy’s claims by pointing out that Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian citizen.
“Even for the American media, it’s very arrogant to suggest that El Salvador even tells him how to treat his citizens as a starting point,” Miller told reporters, claiming that “two courts” had discovered that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang.
