President Trump says he won’t bring back mistakenly deported man
(CNN, KYMA/KECY) - President Donald Trump believes he could bring back Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States if he wanted to, but he doesn't.
That's what the president told ABC News in an interview which aired Tuesday night.
His comment seems to contradict previous remarks.
Abrego Garcia is the Maryland man who the White House acknowledged had been wrongly deported to Honduras in March.
U.S. officials detained the father of three after alleging that he was a confirmed MS-13 member. The Trump administration has designated the MS-13 gang as a foreign terrorist organization. Abrego Garcia and his wife, however, dispute that claim.
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally sometime around 2011. In 2019, an immigration judge ruled he couldn't be sent back to his native country, where his life could be in danger.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration must now "facilitate" his return.
Trump and his top aides have said the U.S. does not have the ability to return Abrego Garcia because he is in the custody of a foreign government.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said, in a recent meeting with Trump, his administration isn't "very fond of releasing terrorists" detained in his country, and he vowed to keep Abrego Garcia in prison.
