The Official Visit of President Bukele from El Salvador to Washington D.C.
Talking Points
The role of El Salvador's government as an instrument in the implementation of illegal actions carried out by the Trump Administration illustrates the hideous evolution in the externalization of U.S. Immigration policy. This process has been embraced and fostered since the Clinton Administration in 1994.
The illegal detention and swift deportation of hundreds of foreign nationals, particularly from Venezuela, to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador is not the first time the government of El Salvador has imprisoned people unlawfully.
Sadly, thousands of innocent Salvadoran nationals have ended up in the same prison because of unfounded accusations or mere suspicion that they are gang members. The principle of innocence until proven guilty and the right to a fair trial, including habeas corpus petitions, have been absent in the Salvadoran judicial system for years.
President Bukele declared a state of emergency on March 27, 2022, in response to gang violence resulting in 92 deaths between March 22 and March 27. States of emergency are supposed to be temporary measures that grant emergency powers to the Executive. However, the state of emergency has continued for 36 months, with no foreseeable end date.
The visit of the Salvadoran president to the White House today represents an unthinkable accomplishment for Nayib Bukele, a president who was unconstitutionally reelected in 2024. By receiving Nayib Bukele in the White House, the Trump Administration is rewarding a self-described “Cool Dictator.”
Sadly, the Biden Administration decided to remain quiet in the face of Nayib Bukele’s illegal reelection campaign, which violated the Salvadoran constitution that does not permit immediate reelection. Instead of standing for the rule of law in El Salvador, the Biden Administration embraced the notion that if something can be made popular, it must be right. The rule of law and respect for the constitution were undermined within US foreign policy. The consequences of those actions can be seen more clearly now.
The U.S. government is overwhelmingly influential in El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego García was protected from deportation with withholding of removal. He was protected by an immigration judge from deportation to El Salvador. If the U.S. government truly wants to secure the release of Kilmar, as directed by a federal court, from the Salvadoran prison system—where it's been sending people since March—it absolutely has the means to do so.
Despite Bukele’s false claims that returning Kilmar Abrego García would constitute “smuggling a criminal,” his return requires the actions of both governments who illegally deported him and detained him. His release from detention is up to the Bukele regime. The U.S. government is responsible for identifying how he can return to the U.S.
Ultimately, the Trump administration sent Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador as a business transaction being paid for with U.S. taxpayers’ money. It is still unclear what is the legal basis for their detention in El Salvador if they did not commit any crime in that country, or when they will be released.
It has been claimed that the purpose of this visit is to sign an agreement for the transfer of deportees from the U.S. to El Salvador. It is necessary to ask what is the legal basis for these inhuman, unconstitutional, and illegal deportations to a third country, despite judicial orders to the contrary. The attempt to concentrate immense power in a president, beyond any review by an independent legislative, as well as an independent judicial branch of government is not a healthy situation for any nation. Sadly, this is an area in which Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele are very much in agreement. They both want to govern with no accountability for their actions.
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Regular Status Revoked for nearly 985,000 persons who entered the country with the App CBP One
People who entered the United States through the southern border after applying for an opportunity to do so with the CBP One application will be placed in irregular status after the Trump administration terminated their immigration status.
