President Donald J. Trump made it crystal clear on Saturday that the controversial decision to allow Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member, to reenter the United States was not his call, distancing the White House from a growing firestorm over the deportation reversal.

“That wasn’t my decision,” Trump told NBC News. “The Justice Department decided to do it that way, and that’s fine.”

Abrego Garcia was deported in March and spent three months behind bars in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison—a high-security facility used to house violent criminals. Despite a previous White House pledge that he would never be allowed back into the U.S., the Justice Department reversed course last week, flying him back to face federal charges related to a 2022 case in Tennessee.

The charges involve suspected human smuggling, and President Trump expressed confidence in the outcome.

“It should be a very easy case” for federal prosecutors, he added.

Abrego Garcia’s return has sparked outrage among conservatives and embarrassment for Democrats, who have curiously rallied behind the MS-13 suspect.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), for example, personally visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador earlier this year and cheered the administration’s reversal. He praised the move as a win for “due process,” despite court findings linking Abrego Garcia to one of the most violent criminal networks on the continent.

But Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller isn’t buying the spin.

“This is the monster Democrats made out to be a hero,” Miller wrote in a viral X post. “This is who they tried to set free. Now this illegal predator will face hard justice.”

Miller explained that Abrego Garcia is facing new federal charges, which justify his temporary presence in the U.S. before another round of deportation—this time with no legal shields.

“There is no more ‘process’ for deporting a crim[inal] alien with a final removal order,” Miller added. “He’s here because new evidence has resulted in a massive criminal indictment. He will be tried, jailed and then deported again to El Salvador.”

Critics have slammed the Biden-era immigration court rulings that previously blocked Abrego Garcia’s removal on so-called humanitarian grounds—rulings which the Trump administration has now overridden by formally designating MS-13 a terrorist organization, removing such protections.

The case has become a flashpoint for the 2025 election cycle, with Democrats scrambling to frame a gang-affiliated illegal immigrant as a victim of overreach, while Trump and his team hammer home a law-and-order message.

Miller even took aim at Axios, slamming the outlet for what he called a “moronic headline” about Abrego Garcia’s return. The administration's stance is firm: criminal illegals will be prosecuted and deported, no matter how loudly the radical left protests.

“What a fool,” Miller said of Van Hollen’s social media celebration. “He’s here to be held accountable — not coddled.”

Trump emphasized he hasn’t recently spoken with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele about the matter but has full confidence in the path forward: criminal justice first, deportation next.

The return of an alleged MS-13 member to the U.S. may have been initiated by the DOJ, but under President Trump’s leadership, there’s no question what the final destination will be: a prison cell—followed by a one-way ticket out of America.