State Department reveals status of man erroneously deported to El Salvador
A day after a federal court sought details on the status of a Maryland man who was deported in error to El Salvador, the State Department told a judge that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is "alive and secure" but still not on American soil.
"It is my understanding based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador," said Michael Kozak, a senior bureau official for the State Department, in a declaration submitted on Saturday minutes after the 5 p.m. deadline set by the judge.
"He is alive and secure in that facility," Kozak added. "He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador."
The Supreme Court had ordered the U.S. government "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to America.
Later Saturday evening, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social claiming El Salvador President Nayib Bukele "has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States."
"These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government," he added.
Trump did not directly mention Abrego Garcia or his case in the post. He is slated to meet with Bukele at the White House Monday.
On Friday, Trump weighed in on the Supreme Court's order while talking with reporters, claiming he wasn't well versed in the case. However, he reiterated his respect for the Supreme Court, which had upheld a lower court's ruling that the U.S. government should assist in returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
"If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would do that. I respect the Supreme Court," he said.
Shortly before the government submitted its first status report to the court, attorneys for Abrego Garcia filed a motion for additional relief and cited Trump's comments.
"Yesterday, President Trump confirmed that the United States has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from prison and return to the United States," the attorneys for Abrego Garcia wrote.
In the filing, the attorneys for the Maryland man requested three additional types of relief, including ordering the government to show why it should not be held in contempt "due to its failure to comply with the Court's prior orders."
"The President's acknowledgement of the United States' power to bring Abrego Garcia back notwithstanding, the Department of Justice and other Government agencies continue to resist this Court and the Supreme Court," they added.
The attorneys also asked the judge to order the government to provide air transportation for Abrego Garcia to return to Maryland and to grant him parole.
In a written order earlier this week, Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland had requested the daily status report to answer what steps, if any, the Trump administration has taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia's immediate return to the U.S. and what additional steps the government will take, and when, to facilitate his return.
While Kozak's sworn declaration answers one of the questions Xinis requested, the response did not provide any more details about Abrego Garcia's return.
Abrego Garcia, despite being issued a 2019 court order barring his deportation to El Salvador, where his attorneys argue he escaped political violence in 2011, was sent to that country's notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an "administrative error," according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.
The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and his wife deny, and argued in legal filings that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order him to be returned to the U.S. nor order El Salvador to return him.
Xinis ordered the government to aid in returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S., which the Supreme Court then upheld on Thursday.
"The order properly requires the Government to 'facilitate' Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador," the Supreme Court's unsigned order stated.
