Secretary of State Highlights ‘Criminals’ Deported Thanks to Partnership Between Trump and Nayib Bukele
The US has deported 10 more individuals, alleged to be gang members, to El Salvador, secretary of state Marco Rubio announced on Sunday, just a day before the country’s president is set to visit the White House.
“Last night, another 10 criminals from the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua Foreign Terrorist Organizations arrived in El Salvador,” Rubio shared in a post on X/Twitter.
The alliance between @POTUS and President @nayibbukele has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.
Rubio emphasized that the partnership between former President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele “has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.” President Biden is scheduled to meet with Bukele at the White House on Monday.
This deportation follows recent court filings where US officials argued they weren’t required to help a Maryland resident return to the US after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Despite a Supreme Court ruling instructing the government to “facilitate” his return, attorneys for the Trump administration stated that their role was to remove domestic obstacles preventing Abrego García, 29, from returning to the US—not physically help him leave El Salvador.
García, a Salvadoran migrant with a work permit since 2019, was wrongfully deported in March, violating an immigration judge’s order blocking his removal. He is currently held in a notorious El Salvador prison.
Trump expressed his anticipation to meet Bukele, praising him for accepting “enemy aliens” from the US, and reiterating the collaboration between the two nations in efforts to combat terrorist organizations.
The Trump administration has made repeated claims that detained immigrants are members of gangs, but these allegations have not been substantiated in court. Hundreds of Venezuelans have been deported to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, with the government asserting that these individuals belong to the Tren de Aragua, a group it classifies as a terrorist organization.
However, lawyers and family members of the deported individuals insist that they are not gang members and never had a chance to challenge the government’s claims. The Trump administration maintains that it vetted the migrants to confirm their affiliations with the Tren de Aragua.
The deportations have been contested in federal court. The US Supreme Court ruled that the government must provide adequate notice to detainees, allowing them to contest their deportations, but it did not clarify how those already deported to El Salvador could pursue judicial review of their removals.
