TRANSCRIPT
The family of a man illegally deported from the US gathered alongside faith leaders in Washington to demand his return.
A court has ruled Kilmar Abrega Garcia must be brought back, but he remains locked up in El Salvador.
His wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura was outside the White House with their children today.
“Kilmar, if you can hear me, I miss you so much”
Inside the White House, Donald Trump gave a warm welcome to El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele.
The two men have struck a deal to deport undocumented migrants to El Salvador's CECOT prison.
It began last month with two planes loaded with 238 people. Mr Garcia was one of them.
President Trump invoked obscure wartime powers to deport the mostly-Venezuelan migrants, claiming those that were deported are members of gangs he's designated as terror groups.
“Well, I was told that they went through a very strong vetting process.”
Civil rights groups disagree. The American Civil Liberties Union quickly sued to prevent the deportations.
When a judge ordered the planes be turned back, the White House claimed it didn't have the power to do that, since they were already in international airspace.
And the deportations have continued since then, with at least 10 additional people sent to El Salvador over the weekend.
At the White House today, Mr Bukele was asked if he would facilitate Kilmar Garcia's return to the US.
BUKELE: “The question is preposterous. How could I smuggle a terrorist into the United States. I don't have the power to return him to the United States.”
REPORTER: “But you can release him into El Salvador.”
BUKELE: “Yeah, but I am not releasing… we're not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country.”
The Trump Administration has claimed Mr Garcia - an El Salvadorian citizen and long-term resident in the US state of Maryland - is a member of the M-S-13 gang.
Mr Garcia denied the allegation, saying he has never been charged with any crime, despite living in the US for more than a decade.
No evidence of gang membership or criminal conduct has been provided by the Trump Administration, either.
Civil rights groups say he is one of many caught up in the deportation deal and denied due process, suggesting some people were deported just for having tattoos.
Last week, the US Supreme Court backed a District Judge in ruling Mr Garcia should be brought back.
Mr Garcia's lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, spoke outside the court.
“After the Supreme Court issued that order, the District judge issued a further order clarifying her ruling and explaining that the government needs to take all steps reasonable to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego-Garcia to the United States. And that in the meanwhile, it needs to provide the court with information.”
He says Mr Garcia is being held in the supermax prison incommunicado and has had no contact with family since he was taken.
Mr Sandoval-Moshenberg also says the government has been stonewalling the legal process, despite now describing Mr Garcia's deportation as an 'administrative' error.
“For the second time in this case, they've sent a lawyer into court who had no answers. He explained that his clients, the government, have chosen not to give him any information, not to give him any evidence.”
It's a case that has captured national attention amid escalating fears for how undocumented migrants will be treated by the Trump administration as its deportation crackdown intensifies.
The prison where Mr Garcia is being held has capacity to hold 40,000 inmates, and has been widely criticised for alleged abuses of human rights.
Each cell is designed to hold scores of prisoners, has only two toilets, no privacy, windows or ventilation, and inmates sleep on metal bunks with no mattress.
Mr Bukele says he's eager to take more prisoners from the U-S.
“We're very happy and we're very eager to help. We know that you have a crime problem, a terrorism problem that you need help with. And we're a small country, but if we can help, we will do it.”
He says holding the fee for holding prisoners at CECOT is low from the perspective of the US, but high for El Salvador.
Mr Bukele says he aims to subsidise the cost of running El Salvador's prison system by forcing inmates to labour in workshops under his 'Zero Idleness Program'.
Now Donald Trump has raised the prospect of an expanded dealt with Mr Bukele that would see US citizens jailed in El Salvador, too.
"I'm all for it because we can do things with the president (Bukele) for less money and have great security. And we have a huge prison population. We have a huge number of prisons, and then we have the private prisons. And some are operated well, I guess, and some aren't. But, he (Bukele) does a great job with that. We have others we are negotiating with too.”
These developments are being seen as another step towards a constitutional crisis, with legal scholars expressing doubts about the legality of such a deal.
President Trump says Attorney General Pam Bondi is currently seeking to establish whether imprisoning US citizens overseas would violate the constitution.
“But no, if it's a homegrown criminal, I have no problem. Now, we're studying the laws right now. Pam (United States Attorney General Pam Bondi) is studying. If we can do that, that's good. And I'm talking about violent people. I'm talking about really bad people. Really bad people. Every bit as bad as the ones coming in.”
