The media’s fixation on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member, has reached near-absurd proportions — and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made that clear during a terse exchange this week at the White House. When pressed by a reporter during a cabinet meeting about whether the U.S. has been in touch with El Salvador regarding Garcia’s “return,” Rubio’s answer wasn’t just dismissive — it was definitive.
Let’s be clear about what’s at stake here. Abrego Garcia was deported to his native El Salvador following evidence that he was involved in violent criminal behavior, including allegations of domestic abuse and being caught in a vehicle tied to human smuggling operations. That, on its own, should have made the case uncontroversial. Yet, left-leaning outlets and Democratic activists have latched onto the case, spinning it into a referendum on immigration policy, due process, and — somehow — the morality of border enforcement.
Reporter: “Have you been in touch with El Salvador about returning Abrego Garcia?”@SecRubio: “Well I would never tell you that and you know who else I would never tell? A judge. Because the conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the President.” pic.twitter.com/ORrW5ezcOj
— Department of State (@StateDept) April 30, 2025
But the premise itself is faulty. Garcia’s criminal record, his gang affiliations, and his illegal entry into the U.S. make him the worst possible poster child for the kind of immigration reform Democrats claim to champion. Rather than focusing on families separated at the border or long-time residents with no criminal record, they’ve turned a probable gangbanger into the face of their resistance — and it’s backfiring.
Rubio’s message this week was simple: we’re not bringing him back, and there’s nothing to talk about. And he’s not wrong.
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen, and once he was returned to El Salvador, he became their jurisdictional responsibility. That’s how international law works. The idea that the U.S. can — or should — force a sovereign nation to return one of its own citizens to face further legal wrangling here is not just legally tenuous; it’s diplomatically laughable.
Even El Salvador’s President mocked the notion, sarcastically asking if he should smuggle Garcia back across the U.S. border — a rhetorical mic drop that illustrates just how unserious this demand is. Once deported, an individual cannot simply be summoned back on the whims of American judges or journalists. The removal is final unless lawfully reversed — which it hasn’t been, and which isn’t going to happen.
So why is this story being kept alive? Because the left and its media allies are desperate to pin a moral failure on the Trump administration’s immigration policies — even if that means championing a violent offender. It’s a strategy that reeks of desperation and lacks self-awareness. This isn’t a Rosa Parks moment. It’s a cynical misuse of narrative to score political points, and it’s unraveling quickly.
Rubio, to his credit, refused to play along. The administration won’t telegraph its moves to a press corps that is, at best, antagonistic, and at worst, actively working to create political scandal. The law was followed. The deportation was justified. And the case is closed.
And now, as El Salvador refuses to return Abrego Garcia, that hypothetical from early April — “what if they just keep him?” — has become reality. The story is moot. The outrage is hollow. And the outcome is, ultimately, a victory for law enforcement and national sovereignty.
