WASHINGTON: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said on Monday he had no plans to return a man mistakenly deported from the US, suggesting doing so would be like smuggling a terrorist into the country, as he met President Donald Trump at the White House.

During the Oval Office meeting, multiple members of the Trump administration said they were not required to bring back Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite an order, backed by the US Supreme Court, that they must facilitate the Maryland resident’s return.

Bukele, for his part, said he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, echoing the Trump administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.

Trump, who came into office in January promising to reform US immigration policy, has found a kindred spirit for that effort in Bukele. The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

Trump said he would send as many people living in the US illegally to El Salvador as possible and help Bukele to build new prisons. The US president called reporters asking whether the administration would follow the order to return Abrego Garcia “sick people.”