El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says at the White House that he will not return a man that the US government admits was mistakenly deported to a notorious mega-prison
The US Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration must "facilitate" the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was granted protection from deportation by a court in 2019
Bukele made the comments while visiting Trump, who says Bukele is "really helping us out"
The two men became key allies after Trump began sending Venezuelan immigrants to the notorious Cecot prison in El Salvador
He accuses the deportees of being gang members, but critics say for many of them, there is little evidence of that
Trump also said he is "all for" sending criminals who are US citizens to the prison, if the law allows it
Key immigration moments from Trump and Bukele meeting
Image source, ReutersTrump is now asked if he knows if Bukele will guarantee temporary protected status (TPS) for Salvadorans.
Trump says he has a great relationship with Bukele. He's known him since he was a young man, he adds, saying the leader looks "like a teenager".
Trump is again pushed on whether he supports TPS.
"I support him", Trump replies, pointing at Bukele.
Trump and Bukele are now taking questions from reporters, the first of which is on the war in Ukraine.
"The mistake was letting the war happen," Trump says, blaming the Biden administration for the war.
A Russian missile attack killed 34 people on Sunday in Sumy, in an attack the US president previously called "a mistake".
"You don’t start a war with a country 20 times your size," Trump says.
Image source, ReutersDiscussion between the two leaders is moving onto other issues, including transgender women in sports, the Biden administration, crime, and immigration.
Trump points out the women in the room, and says he has been "advanced" at including women in his administration.
Bukele says a lot of his cabinet are women, and they "aren't DEI hires", referring to so-called 'diversity, equity and inclusion' policies.
Trump asks his Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, to speak about the administration's progress at the border.
Noem praises Trump's leadership and says the administration wants to get "criminals murderers, rapists" out of the US.
She also thanks Bukele for the countries' partnership and says it's been "wonderful to have a place to send the worst people".
"This is a clear consequence for the worst of the worst, that you have somewhere to put them," Noem says, seemingly referring to the people the US has deported to El Salvador.
Bukele tells Trump to 'liberate' Americans 'you have to imprison some'
Trump takes aim at the Biden administration, saying that the borders were too open and too many people were entering the United States.
"We're straightening it out," Trump says about the border, describing the situation as a "sin" before he came to power.
He tells Bukele that he is "really helping us out".
Trump begins speaking to reporters, saying he knew Bukele as a young man, and he has done "incredible" things for El Salvador.
He says the people of El Salvador "have one hell of a president".
Bukele says they are "very eager to help" the US fight crime.
Image source, White HouseBukele tells Trump to 'liberate' Americans 'you have to imprison some'
We're hearing now from Bukele and Trump who are speaking in the Oval Office.
Bukele urges Trump to "liberate" 350 million Americans who are asking for the end of crime.
The El Salvadoran leader says the US has a long way to go, but the lower numbers of people crossing the US-Mexico border shows Trump's progress.
Image source, US PoolWe are now seeing video from inside the White House, in the famous Oval Office.
Bukele and Trump are speaking to one another, and the crowd of reporters inside the room.
We'll bring you the key lines, stay tuned.
Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from the White House
El Salvador's president arrives at the White House
Dressed in a navy suit and black tshirt, Bukele arrived at the door and was given a warm greeting by President Trump. There was a handshake and pat on the arm, before both men turned to the bank of photographers and reporters.
Bukele waved and Trump pumped his fist before walking into the West Wing.
We're expecting both men to face questions from reporters in the Oval Office shortly.
Image source, Getty ImagesEl Salvador's Nayib Bukele has just pulled up to the White House - he's being met by President Donald Trump.
The pair are shaking hands, and waving to the media gathered outside as the cameras click.
They will now head inside to sit down in the Oval Office.
Watch: Miller says El Salvador should decide Maryland man’s fate
As we await the arrival of President Bukele, we can bring you some comments earlier this morning from Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff.
He told Fox News that Kilmar Ábrego García - the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador - was not "mistakenly sent" there.
"This was the right person sent to the right place," Miller said.
The US government has conceded Ábrego García was deported due to an "administrative error", though it also claims he is a member of the MS-13 gang, something his lawyer denies.
But Miller appears to be pushing past that, saying in part, that if Ábrego García was returned to the US it would constitute a "kidnapping" and "invasion of El Salvador's sovereignty".
"Nobody has been mistakenly sent to El Salvador," Miller repeated.
Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from the White House
Image source, US PoolWe’re stood just outside the doors of the West Wing as the meeting of the two showmen is set to take place. President Bukele, who has described himself self as “the world’s coolest dictator,” will meet with President Trump shortly.
This is a big deal for 43-year-old Nayib Bukele - an Oval Office visit helps to put El Salvador on the global stage and solidify his alliance with the world’s most powerful leader.
The State Department has already upgraded the country’s travel rating to safest level of 1 - something highly coveted by Bukele, who wants to open his country to tourism.
In return, he is central to Trump’s hardline deportation policy. But no doubt lots of questions will be asked by reporters about Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
He has wrongfully been deported to El Salvador’s mega-prison, and whilst the Trump administration concedes it’s an error, and the Supreme Court has said he should be returned, the US has left it to El Salvador to decide what to do.
Image source, GettKristi Noem, head of the Department of Homeland Security, has told Fox News she expects more people will be sent to El Salvador.
"When I was in El Salvador visiting with President Bukele, we talked about the fact that he would accept more flights, would accept more individuals into Cecot", she said. "So I'm looking forward to that partnership continuing."
Noem was also asked about Kilmar Ábrego García - a Maryland man who the Trump administration has alleged is a member of MS-13, though his lawyers dispute that - and dismissed a Maryland judge's request for daily updates on the whereabouts of Ábrego García.
"This judge has said he wants daily updates. I mean - shouldn't we be focused on the updates of the American people that are being victimized by these criminal aliens?"
Trump has not ruled out the possibility that he would try to send US inmates to the notorious Salvadorean prison Cecot to which he has deported Venezuelan nationals.
Recently, a reporter asked him about Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s offer in February to house US prisoners in the facility, saying he would take them “for a fee”.
"I love it," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
"If he would take them, I'd be honoured to give them. I don't know what the law says on that, but I can't imagine the law would say anything different... If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I'm all for it.”
Trump has also suggested that those who vandalize Tesla cars should be sent to foreign prisons. Civil rights groups say the move would violate the US constitution.
Image source, ReutersThe Center for Terrorism Confinement (Cecot) is El Salvador's maximum security jail housing some of the country’s most hardened criminals, including mass murderers and gang members billed as the “worst of the worst” by its government.
The notorious jail has been in the headlines following Trump administration’s recent move to deport hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members there.
The gargantuan complex is considered the largest prison in the Americas - with a capacity of 40,000 inmates - and is a trademark of President Nayib Bukele's fight against crime.
While the Cecot is heralded as the solution to the region's gang problem by Bukele and his supporters, it has long been described by rights activists as "a black hole of human rights".
Miguel Sarre, a former member of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture, has described it as a "concrete and steel pit".
As part of a deal reached between Bukele and Trump, the administration is paying El Salvador $6m to hold those deported from the US.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen has sent an open letter to El Salvador's Presiednt Nayib Bukele requesting a meeting to discuss the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia whilst he's on his trip to the United States.
In the letter, Van Hollen writes that if Abrego Garcia is not returned to the US, the senator will head to El Salvador this week.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia - who lives in Maryland, where Van Hollen is from - was mistakenly deported from the US to the Salvadoren mega-prison Cecot, according to the administration, and the US Supreme Court has ruled his must be returned must be "facilitated" by the US government.
But the Trump administration is resisting attempts to bring him back, and claims he is a member of the MS-13 gang, even though they previously admitted his deportation was an "administrative error".
“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia never should have been abducted and illegally deported," Van Hollen writes.
He says that because it seems no effort is being made for Abrego Garcia's return, "we need to take additional action. That’s why I’ve requested to meet with President Bukele during his trip to the United States, and – if Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release."
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America editor
When Bukele first ran for president in 2019, he campaigned on an anti-corruption platform whose slogan was "there’s enough money when no one steal".
While fighting crime and increasing security were already on his list of priorities back then, it wasn’t until March 2022 that he declared a state of emergency after a particularly violent weekend during which more than 70 people were killed.
The state of emergence gives police additional powers, making it easier to arrest people and to hold hem for longer before trial.
Since then, Bukele introduced a bill - successfully passed by Congress - which means that people suspected of gang membership can be judged in mass trials.
His tough-on-crime approach has been welcomed by many, and won him re-election by a landslide last year. But legal experts have warned that the measures he brought in have eroded El Salvador’s justice system.
Human rights groups have also denounced the abuses they say occur within the walls of El Salvador’s jail and the lack of legal recourse for those locked up inside them.
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC NewsJust a few minutes ago, we reporters at the White House wrapped up a brief - but extremely tense - question-and-answer session with Stephen Miller, the White House's deputy chief of staff and one of the main architects of the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Administration officials are often critical of the media during these "gaggles", but this one stood out.
Miller repeatedly admonished the media for, he says, not understanding US immigration policies and focusing too much on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the immigrant sent back to El Salvador who is currently behind held in the infamous Cecot prison despite legal wrangling in the US over his case.
"In my entire professional life, I've never received this many questions from the media about an American who was raped or murdered by an illegal alien. Legitimately, never," he snapped at us.
While he would not reveal whether Trump will ask for Abrego Garcia to be returned, Miller repeatedly pushed back on claims that the Maryland man was "mistakenly" deported to El Salvador and said that a previous court order that he could not be deported no longer applies because of his alleged ties to MS-13, now a designated foreign terrorist organisation.
"No one was mistakenly sent anywhere," Miller says. "He is in El Salvador. He is an illegal. He was deported to El Salvador. I would welcome anyone here to tell me what country they think we should be sending [Salvadoran] illegal aliens."
Watch: Miller says El Salvador should decide Maryland man’s fate
Image source, ReutersOn 15 March, the US used an 18th-Century war-time law to deport over 200 Venezuelans to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, alleging they had ties to notorious Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua.
The government has not publicly provided evidence of their links to the gang, and relatives of many of the deportees have disputed the allegations.
The Trump administration used The Alien Enemies Act to deport the Venezuelan nationals, which allows non-citizens to be deported without due legal process.
The deportations are a part of a larger Trump administration crackdown on immigration to the US.
Image source, ReutersThe US government has admitted that it mistakenly deported a Maryland resident named Kilmar Ábrego García to El Salvador because of an "administrative error".
But the administration has resisted any attempt to bring the man back to the US, where his family live.
The US Supreme Court has ordered them to "facilitate" his return, but administration lawyers have said they cannot because he is now in Salvadoran custody.
This morning, Stephen Miller, homeland security adviser, said Garcia's only options are to be deported to El Salvador or to a different country.
On Friday, a judge ordered the administration to provide daily updates on what is being done to bring back the Maryland father of three.
The government has alleged that Ábrego García, who is from El Salvador, is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyer denies.
An immigration judge granted Ábrego García protection from deportation years ago on the grounds that he might be at risk of persecution from local gangs in his home country.
It is unclear what consequences the government could face for not providing the judge with updates on their efforts to get Ábrego García back to the US, or for failing to do so entirely.