President Trump, who claimed that the administration could not bring Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia back to the United States from El Salvador, said he had the ability to help him return a Maryland man who was accidentally deported, but said he would not do so because he believes he is a member of the gang.
“We can get him back and we have a phone at this desk,” ABC News correspondent Terry Moran looked at the Supreme Court’s order to “promote” the release of Abrego Garcia.
“I did it,” replied Trump.
Moran said Trump would call El Salvador President Naive Buquere and could get Abrego Garcia back soon.
“And if he was a gentleman who says you are, I would,” Trump said. “But he’s not,” Trump added that he doesn’t want to help government lawyers return Abrego Garcia to the US.
Trump’s comments not only undermined previous statements by his top aides, but were also a dull sign of his administration’s intention to double-double courts and rebel. Prior to an interview with ABC News, the administration had refused to pay attention to the Supreme Court order to return Salvadra immigrant Abrego Garcia. Trump officials said he was now in a Salvador prison and it was up to the Salvador government to release him.
The Justice Department argued that the administration could “promote” Abrego Garcia’s release and respond to the Supreme Court’s request to “promote” release, not only to let him enter if he presents himself at the port of entry.
“If they want to return him, it’s up to El Salvador,” Attorney General Pam Bondy said this month at an oval office meeting with Trump and Bukere. “That’s not up to us.”
During that meeting, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and architect of his immigration agenda, argued that questions about liberating Abrego Garcia should be directed to Buquere, not Trump.
“It’s very arrogant to suggest that the American media would communicate how they treat their citizens as a starting point to El Salvador,” Miller said. “It’s the president of El Salvador. Your questions about the courts will only be directed to him.”
Buquere also refused to help Abrego Garcia return to the US, claiming it was similar to freeing terrorists from prison.
However, in an interview with ABC News, Trump appeared to acknowledge his power to help Abrego Garcia return to the US.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Trump also told ABC News that his administration is right to send Abrego Garcia to a Salvador prison designed for terrorists known as CECOT. Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the United States in 2012, was arrested in March 2019 while searching for a job near Home Depot.
In October 2019, an immigration judge ruled that Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador due to credible fears of persecution from the gang barrio.
However, despite the order banning his deportation, he arrested him in March this year, accusing him of having ties to MS-13 and deporting him to a prison in El Salvador.
“This is a member of the MS-13 gang,” Trump said in an interview.
Abrego Garcia has never been charged or convicted of being a gang member. During his deportation proceedings, some evidence was introduced that he belonged to MS-13, and the judge found it sufficient to detain him while the matter was resolved. However, other judges have expressed doubts about the evidence.
“The ‘evidence’ against Abrego Garcia was made up of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie. and consisted of vague, silent allegations from a confidential informant who claimed to belong to the “western” creek of MS-13, where he did not live. ”
In an interview with ABC News, Trump claimed that Abrego Garcia’s tattooed hands were evidence of his gang bond. Trump accused him of being a member of the MS-13, previously sharing a tattoo photo, but was changed with the MS-13 label above the symbol.
The tattoo itself looks real, but some gang experts have it I questioned whether they were really MS-13 symbols.
