Live updates: El Salvador’s president says he won’t release wrongly deported man back to US
Edited By BRIDGET BROWN, BERNARD McGHEE and CURTIS YEE
Updated 9:58 AM AKDT, April 14, 2025
President Donald Trump’s top advisers and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, said Monday that they had no basis for the small Central American nation to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported there last month.
Trump administration officials emphasized that Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador, was a citizen of that country and that the U.S. has no say in his future. And Bukele, who has been a vital partner for the Trump administration in its deportation efforts, said he does not “have the power to return him to the United States.”
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return.
https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-4-14-2025
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Rubio Says 10 More People Have Been Expelled to El Salvador
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that “the alliance” between President Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador had “become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”
By Eric Schmitt and Annie Correal
Reporting from Washington and Panama City
Published April 13, 2025 Updated April 14, 2025, 7:01 a.m. ET
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the United States had sent 10 members of two gangs — MS-13, which originated in the United States and operates in South America, and Tren de Aragua, rooted in Venezuela — to El Salvador late Saturday.
Mr. Rubio added in a social media post that “the alliance” between President Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador had “become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”
The deportees sent to El Salvador this weekend came from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on an Air Force C-17 cargo plane, according to a social media message posted by El Salvador’s justice minister, Gustavo Villatoro. The administration has been holding some detainees at the U.S. naval base there.
Mr. Villatoro also posted a video of men being marched off a military plane and led in shackles into a prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.
The Trump administration has sent hundreds of Venezuelans to the notorious prison in El Salvador at the invitation of Mr. Bukele, who is positioning himself as a crucial regional ally to Mr. Trump and is scheduled to meet with the president in Washington on Monday.
The administration has portrayed those deportees as violent criminals or terrorists, but court papers have shown that the evidence on which the government acted was often little more than whether they had tattoos or had worn clothing associated with the criminal organization.
Subject: Stop Deportations to CECOT and Protect Due Process
Dear [Representative/Senator] [Last Name],
I am writing to you as a deeply concerned constituent to strongly and unequivocally object to the deportation of any individuals—citizen or not—to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in El Salvador, or to any other facility that has been credibly accused of human rights violations and inhumane treatment.
CECOT, built under the Bukele administration, is widely reported as one of the largest and harshest prisons in the world. Reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and numerous journalists describe appalling conditions: overcrowded cells, indefinite solitary confinement, denial of food and medical care, and systematic torture. Prisoners have been held without trial or access to legal representation, many accused of gang affiliation solely due to tattoos, style of dress, or neighborhood of origin—not due to proven criminal activity.
According to Human Rights Watch (2023), mass arrests have led to the incarceration of tens of thousands, often without due process. Detainees have died in custody without explanation. The Salvadoran government has openly used the prison as a show of force to instill fear, not justice.
It is morally unconscionable and legally indefensible for the United States to deport anyone to such a facility. Doing so violates the principles of due process, habeas corpus, and protection from cruel and unusual punishment—values enshrined in our Constitution and international human rights law.
Furthermore, I am extremely alarmed by recent political rhetoric—including from former President Trump—suggesting that American citizens could also be deported under similar pretenses. If the precedent is set that merely labeling someone a "terrorist" or "criminal" is enough to strip away all legal rights, then none of us are safe.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said on Monday (4/14) that he would not return Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported from the United States.
(See NYT, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/14/us/trump-news-tariffs, &
NPR: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/14/nx-s1-5364502/trump-bukele-el-salvador-deportation )
Deporting individuals to secretive, lawless facilities from which there is no appeal and no chance of release amounts to extra-judicial exile. It is a tactic of authoritarian regimes—not of democracies.
I am calling on you to:
Publicly oppose any current or future deportations to CECOT or any facility like it.
Pass legislation prohibiting the U.S. government from deporting anyone—citizen or otherwise—without due process and the right to appeal.
Demand transparency and accountability in U.S. immigration enforcement.
Ensure that no person can be stripped of rights simply based on suspicion, appearance, or association.
This is not just a matter of immigration. It is a matter of what kind of country we are. A free society does not export people to be tortured. A just government does not allow leaders—past or present—to rule by fear and vengeance.
Please do what is right. Stand up for the Constitution, for human dignity, and for the future of our democracy.
Sincerely,[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
[Your City, State, ZIP Code]
[Your Email Address]
[Optional: Your Phone Number]
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