US President Donald Trump thanked his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, on Monday for the “wonderful place” where Venezuelans deported by US authorities are being held, referring to the maximum-security prison where they have been interned.
“Thank you, President Bukele of El Salvador, for taking charge of the criminals that the corrupt Joe Biden administration so stupidly allowed to enter our country and for giving them such a wonderful place to live!”
The message is accompanied by a video that includes a message from Bukele on the social media platform X, in which he reports the arrival of “17 extremely dangerous criminals from the Tren de Aragua and MS-13,” the Mara Salvatrucha gang, in a “joint military operation.”
Bukele emphasized that all of them are “confirmed murderers and perpetrators of serious crimes, including six child rapists.” “This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime,” he stressed.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the deportation as an “anti-terrorist operation.” “These criminals will not terrorize our communities and citizens again,” he emphasized.
The 17 inmates have been interned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador, where they will remain for at least a year, according to an agreement between the White House and the Nayib Bukele administration.
Civil rights organizations have questioned the lack of safeguards or even the legality of these deportations, especially after a federal judge ordered their suspension, deeming them inadequate in their application of the Alien Enemies Act, a late 18th-century law that grants special powers to the president and was designed for conflict situations.
