The U.S. military transferred a group of 17 alleged members of Tren de Aragua to El Salvador from Guantanamo Bay on Sunday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Rubio said in a statement posted on X that the alleged gang members included murderers and rapists.
“In order to keep the American people safe, @POTUS designated the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” Rubio said. “These criminals will no longer terrorize our communities and citizens.”
Those transferred to El Salvador included Keivis Jesus Arrecheder Vasquez, a Venezuelan national and an alleged leader of Tren de Aragua, senior White House officials told Fox News. He has two criminal charges pending related to the intent to sell drugs.
EL SALVADOR TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS FROM US, EVEN AS JUDGE MOVES TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS
The officials said six other alleged Tren de Aragua members were also transferred. All the individuals transferred were either citizens of Venezuela or El Salvador. Some have criminal charges pending, while most have been convicted.
In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump thanked Bukele for “taking the criminals that were so stupidly allowed, by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, to enter our Country, and giving them such a wonderful place to live.”
These removals were done via Title 8, not the Alien Enemies Act, and all the individuals had deportation orders or final orders of removal, according to the senior White House officials, meaning the Trump administration did not violate a federal judge’s order halting the deportations.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg extended a restraining order on Friday against the use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law, by the Trump administration to deport violent gang members with alleged ties to gangs.
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Trump has since slammed Boasberg, accusing him and other “radical left judges” of hampering his ability to serve as president.
The Trump administration has deported hundreds of alleged criminal illegal aliens to El Salvador, where they are being held in the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem toured the prison last week ahead of a meeting with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who opened the prison in 2023 as part of an ongoing effort to crackdown on powerful street gangs in the country.
Bukele addressed the recent transfer in a statement on X, saying the 17 individuals are “confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News in a statement that the Trump administration will continue going after illegal alien criminals.
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“Every day, America becomes safer, thanks to the leadership of President Trump,” Leavitt said. “If you’re an illegal terrorist or criminal – the Trump administration is coming for you.”
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