El Salvador's Bukele refuses to return wrongly-deported Maryland man, and offers to jail US citizens too

The United States deported the wrong man — but El Salvador still won’t send him back.

El Salvador's popular strongman president Nayib Bukele on Monday visited the White House, where he told journalists it was “preposterous” to ask him to return Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland resident whom the US mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison in March as part of a broader expulsion there of 200 immigrants suspected of gang connections.

Abrego García came to the US from El Salvador illegally more than a decade ago but had since been granted a form of asylum. The Trump Administration has admitted an “administrative error”, but rebuffed a Supreme Court order to “facilitate” Abrego García’s, arguing that the courts have no say over the president’s foreign policy choices.

Could Bukele jail American citizens too? Bukele on Monday upped the ante,offering to jail even naturalized U.S. citizens who are convicted of violent crimes — for a fee. Trump, who heaped praise on Bukele, said his administration was studying the idea, adding, “If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem.”

Immigration expertsmaintain that sending US citizens to foreign jails is unconstitutional. But the Trump administration has shown a willingness to test the bounds of executive authority, especially on immigration. Expect another potential showdown between the White House and the courts soon.