President Donald Trump thanked El Salvador over the weekend after the country accepted hundreds of alleged criminals deported from the United States.
To facilitate the move, Trump cited the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which permits the deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing. The transfer comes after Trump vowed earlier this month to seek aggressive action against Tren de Aragua, the violent transnational gang that has been making headlines.
“Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable),” El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted on X on March 16.
“On this occasion, the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders. One of them is a member of the criminal organization’s highest structure,” Bukele continued.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocked the deportations to El Salvador to consider the implications of leveraging the act. However, the White House denies that it violated the judge’s order since the deportees were already off U.S. territory at the time of the directive.
“These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 16, referring to the alleged criminals being deported.
“Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget!”
A senior member of the Trump administration told Fox News that 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on March 16. Of those, 137 were sent under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, 101 were Venezuelans removed through Title 8, 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, and the final two were MS-13 ringleaders.
The crimes allegedly committed by some of the deportees include sexual abuse of a child, aggregative assault, and kidnapping.