A man who was mistakenly deported from the state of Maryland to a mega-jail in El Salvador is “alive and secure”, a US official has told a judge.
The update on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts came days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration should facilitate his release and return to the US.
“It is my understanding, based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador, that Abrego Garcia is being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador,” State Department official Michael Kozak said.
President Donald Trump is due to sit down on Monday with his counterpart from El Salvador, where he has sent more than 200 migrants alleging they are gang members.
The US government has conceded Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”, though it also claims he is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyer denies.
He was one of the 238 Venezuelans and 23 Salvadorans the Trump administration deported last month to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot) under an arrangement between the two countries.
“He is alive and secure in that facility,” Mr Kozak added on Saturday.
An immigration judge had granted Mr Garcia, a Salvadoran, legal protection from deportation in 2019.
Trump’s administration fought against helping Mr Garcia return to the US, and argued Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis exceeded her authority when she ordered the action.
However the US Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, weighed in on the case this week and unanimously backed the order to help facilitate his release.
On Friday, Judge Xinis directed the Trump administration to provide her with daily updates on what steps were being taken to bring Mr Garcia back to the US.
In court documents, Mr Garcia’s lawyers accused the US government of trying to “delay, obfuscate and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk”.
Mr Garcia, 29, entered the US illegally as a teenager from El Salvador. In 2019, he was arrested with three other men in Maryland and detained by federal immigration authorities.
He was subsequently granted protection from deportation on the grounds that he might be at risk of persecution from local gangs in his home country.
Trump told reporters this week that if the Supreme Court said “bring somebody back, I would do that”.
“I respect the Supreme Court,” he said.
His meeting with El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele is due to take place at the White House on Monday.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was looking forward to it and thanked Bukele for accepting “some of the most violent alien enemies of the World” – referring to those being deported as “barbarians”.
“Their future is up to President B and his Government,” Trump said. “They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!”
