Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday confirmed the removal of hundreds of Tren de Aragua terrorists from the United States and thanked El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, for his assistance.
“Under the President’s direction, his administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act to initiate the removal of hundreds of dangerous members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a vicious and violent Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), which has been threatening our nation, conducting irregular warfare, and terrorizing Americans,” Rubio said in a statement.
“Hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country. This crucial step would have never happened under any other U.S. president. President Trump is following through on the promises he made to the American people,” he added.
Rubio’s statement came as a judge tried to stop the Trump administration from deporting the terrorists while the flights—one to El Salvador and one to Honduras—were underway.
Bukele also issued a statement after their arrival and had the perfect response to the judge.
Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country," he said, They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable).
The United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.
Over time, these actions, combined with the production already being generated by more than 40,000 inmates engaged in various workshops and labor under the Zero Idleness program, will help make our prison system self-sustainable. As of today, it costs $200 million per year.
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.
This will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors.
As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action.
May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.
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Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukele. https://t.co/E6DrFLeU5F
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 16, 2025
Oopsie…
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 16, 2025
Too late 😂 pic.twitter.com/nDHL6deLJq
President Trump told Bukele the U.S. "will not forget" his help.
"These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats," Trump said on Truth Social. "How dare they! 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!"
The move has predictably set off the left.
Democrats are mad that Trump deported foreign terrorists who came into our country illegally and r*ped, k*lled, robbed, and assaulted Americans. pic.twitter.com/iJZZZwSAxS
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 17, 2025
Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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