El Salvador refusal to return mistakenly deported man ‘pure nonsense’: Top US Senate Democrat

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the Salvadoran president's refusal Monday to return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

"President (Nayib) Bukele's comment today is pure nonsense," Schumer said in a statement.

That was after Bukele ruled out returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was wrongfully deported last month to EL Salvador by the Trump administration.

As he sat down with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Bukele was asked by reporters if he would return Abrego Garcia after the Supreme Court ruled last week that the US must "facilitate" the return, Bukele said: "Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous."

"The law is clear, due process was grossly violated, and the Supreme Court has clearly spoken that the Trump administration must facilitate and effectuate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He should be returned to the U.S. immediately.

"Due process and the rule of law are cornerstones of American society for citizens and noncitizens alike and not to follow that is dangerous and outrageous. A threat to one is a threat to all," Schumer said.

Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported to his native country March 15 along with hundreds of alleged Salvadoran and Venezuelan gang members, even though a court order from a separate case barred him from being removed from the US.

The Department of Justice admitted that it made an error in deporting Abrego Garcia but claimed it did not have the authority to bring him back because he was in the custody of another country.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen sent a letter Monday to El Salvador's ambassador to the US to request a meeting with Bukele this week to talk about Abrego Garcia's return.

"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," Van Hollen said in the letter.