El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who is holding more than 200 migrants sent from the U.S. federal government in detention in his new mega prison Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), is commenting on X about the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U. S.
The El Salvador-born Abrego Garcia was living in the U.S. when the American government sent him to El Salvador in what it said was an error — and then said it didn’t have the authority to remove him from the CECOT.
Despite earlier comments made by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (both said Abrego Garcia would never return to the U.S.), this week Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States where he faces a charge of human smuggling, or as Bondi says, “alien smuggling,” stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
Note: When Abrego Garcia was detained in the El Salvadoran prison, Bondi said that “co-conspirators alleged” that Abrego Garcia had some involvement in a murder. Garcia is not facing any charges of murder.
Reporter: Maybe I misunderstood. You mentioned he had involvement in a murder.. But the other things you have talked about are not actually in the indictment. pic.twitter.com/VpooekG4Ar
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 6, 2025
President Bukele, who refers to Abrego Garcia as a “gang member,” wrote on X on Friday: “As I said in the Oval Office: 1. I would never smuggle a terrorist into the United States. 2. I would never release a gang member onto the streets of El Salvador. That said, we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn’t refuse. No more margaritas under custody.” He added a frowning face emoji.
As I said in the Oval Office:
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 6, 2025
1. I would never smuggle a terrorist into the United States.
2. I would never release a gang member onto the streets of El Salvador.
That said, we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face…
Bukele pushed the false narrative that when U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) travelled to CECOT to check in on Abrego Garcia, that the two had margaritas together. As seen below, in the photos Bukele shared, there are only glasses of water on the table.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!🍹 pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025
Van Hollen called Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. “a victory for due process. It’s a victory for the Constitution.”
Van Hollen added: “It should not have taken this long. I mean … the Trump administration dragged its feet for a very long time and ignored a 9 to 0 order from the Supreme Court,” Van Hollen said during a Friday appearance on MSNBC.”
