Sanders Says World Just Witnessed New 'Step Forward in Trump's Move Toward Authoritarianism'

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders warned late Monday that President Donald Trump's open refusal to comply with court orders requiring him to bring home a Maryland resident his administration wrongly deported represents "just another step forward" in his "move toward authoritarianism."

"Just a few weeks ago, the Trump administration admitted that the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father of three who has been in the country more than decade, was an 'administrative error,'" Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement following the U.S. president's chummy meeting with far-right Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at the White House.

"The U.S. Supreme Court—in a 9-0 decision backed by every Trump-appointed justice—ruled that the administration must bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States," Sanders continued. "Now, in open defiance of the Supreme Court and without any evidence, the White House claims that Abrego Garcia is a 'terrorist,' who was 'sent to the right place.' This is a blatant LIE."

During Monday's meeting, Bukele showed a willingness to help Trump evade domestic court mandates, echoing the U.S. administration's false narrative that Abrego Garcia is a "terrorist" and declining to release him from a notorious El Salvador mega-prison—insisting, like his American counterpart, that he lacks the power to do so.

The Trump administration proceeded to quote Bukele's claim that he cannot "smuggle a terrorist into the United States" in a court filing.

Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network, said the Trump-Bukele meeting "should alarm everyone."

"Trump is taking monumental yet calculated steps to expand the scope of who can be subjected to arrest, incarceration, and deportation, and normalize the abduction and removal of people to another country without due process," said Shah. "The Trump and Bukele partnership to outsource incarceration to El Salvador is setting a dangerous precedent of total disdain for basic human rights—not only for migrants, but for everyone in the United States, including residents and citizens, and especially Black and brown people who are disproportionately targeted by the U.S.'s unjust criminal legal system."

During Bukele's visit to the White House, livestream audio captured Trump telling El Salvador's president that "he needs to build about five more places" and that "homegrown" U.S. prisoners "are next."

Working Families Party national director Maurice Mitchell said Monday that Trump's remarks were "some of the most chilling words uttered in the Oval Office."

"He's pulling straight from the authoritarian playbook—and isn't hiding it," said Mitchell. "We condemn his comments in the strongest possible terms and demand the immediate release of wrongly imprisoned Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia."