In a sharply worded statement issued Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned President Donald Trump for what he called a “blatant lie” and an unconstitutional act in the ongoing case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father of three who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and remains imprisoned there.
The controversy reignited after President Trump failed to address the matter during an Oval Office meeting earlier today with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling demanding Garcia’s return.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an innocent man and the father of three,” Sanders said in the statement released from Burlington, Vermont. “He must not be allowed to rot in an El Salvadorian jail based on lies and defiance of our Constitution. He must be brought home immediately.”
Garcia, a long-time Maryland resident who entered the U.S. over a decade ago, was deported earlier this year in what the Trump administration later admitted was an “administrative error.” However, despite the Supreme Court’s rare 9-0 ruling — which included support from all Trump-appointed justices — ordering the reversal of his deportation, the White House has doubled down, now labeling Garcia a “terrorist” and justifying his imprisonment abroad.
“This is a blatant LIE,” Sanders wrote. “As Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated, ‘To this day, the Government has cited no basis in law for Abrego Garcia’s warrantless arrest, his removal to El Salvador, or his confinement in a Salvadoran prison. Nor could it.’”
According to court records, a 2019 immigration judge’s ruling had explicitly barred Garcia’s removal to El Salvador, adding further weight to accusations that the administration is in open violation of U.S. law and court authority.
The Trump White House has not issued a formal response to Sanders’ statement but maintained in earlier briefings that Garcia “was sent to the right place” — a claim critics say reflects a broader erosion of judicial checks on executive power.
“This is just another step forward in Trump’s move toward authoritarianism,” Sanders concluded. “Fight back!”
The White House’s continued refusal to comply with the Supreme Court’s order is likely to fuel further tensions between the executive branch and the judiciary, at a time when President Trump’s immigration crackdown has already drawn widespread domestic and international criticism.
Virginia Times will continue monitoring developments in the Abrego Garcia case.
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