Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) panned Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Monday after he said that he has no plans to return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to his country earlier this year, calling the plan “pure nonsense.”

When asked by reporters if he will return Kilmar Abrego Garcia after the Supreme Court ruled last week that the U.S. must “facilitate” such a move, Bukele shot back: “Of course I’m not going to do it.”

Schumer heaped criticism on those remarks, pointing to the Court’s order. 

“President Bukele’s comment today is pure nonsense. 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,” Schumer said in a statement. 

“He should be returned to the U.S. immediately,” he continued. “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.”

Both Trump and Bukele argued they don’t have the power to return Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man and Salvadoran national, to the U.S. The administration has admitted that it mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia to a high-security prison in the Central American country. 

“How could I return him to the United States? I smuggle him to the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous,” Bukele said, labeling Abrego Garcia a terrorist. 

“I don’t have the power to return him to the United States. I’m not releasing — I mean, we’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country,” he added. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi pressed that the decision is up to El Salvador and that the U.S. can do nothing more than send potential transportation. 

“The Supreme Court ruled, president, that if El Salvador wants to return him … we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane,” Bondi said.

Abrego Garcia was deported because he was accused by a confidential informant of being a member of the MS-13 gang in New York. His family has maintained that he fled El Salvador due to gang violence and that he has never lived in New York. 

He was not supposed to be deported due to a judge’s order that indicated a legitimate fear that he would be persecuted by a local gang. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was seeking a meeting with Bukele during his U.S. trip this week. He said that if Abrego Garcia was not returned by mid-week, he would travel to El Salvador himself.

“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia never should have been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the Administration must bring him home, now,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “However, since the Trump Administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action.” 

“That’s why I’ve requested to meet with President Bukele during his trip to the United States, and — 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 added.