Shortly after Trump took office for a second term, Nayib Bukele offered to let the USA deport people to El Salvador in exchange for payment. In March, over 250 migrants were sent there and were detained.
The US government has admitted that one of them, 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported on incorrect grounds. A federal judge in the USA has ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" his return, which has also been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
How can I return him to the USA? It's like I'm smuggling him into the USA? says Bukele in response to a question during Monday's meeting with Trump, and continues:
The question is unreasonable. I don't have the power to return him to the USA.
According to the USA, the deported migrants are members of gangs that have been labeled as terrorist organizations by the USA. However, relatives of several of them claim that they have no connections to organized crime.
Trump reiterated on Monday that he would also like to send violent American citizens to El Salvador.
I'm all for it, he says.
He has asked Justice Minister Pam Bondi to look further into what is possible under the law.
